GIFT   OF 


THE  BROSS  LIBRARY 

VOLUME  V 


THE    BROSS    LIBRARY 


The  Problem  of  the  Old  Testament, 

by  JAMES  ORE,  D.D.  (Bross  Prize, 
1905) net  $1.50 

The   Bible:   Its  Origin   and   Nature, 

by  MARCUS  DODS,  D.D.     .    net  $1.00 

The  Bible  of  Nature,  by  J.  ARTHUR 
THOMSON,  M. A Ml f  1.00 

The  Religions  of  Modern  Syria  and 
Palestine,  by  FREDERICK  JONES 
Buss,  Ph.D net  $1.50 

The  Sources  of  Religious  Insight,  by 
JosiAHRoYCE,Ph.D.,LL.D.  net  $1.25 


COMMUNION   LOAF  OR   OBLATION   OF  THE   HOLY   ORTHODOX    CHURCH 


THE    BROSS    LECTURES     .     .     1908 

THE  KELIGIONS  OF 
MODEM  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


LECTURES  DELIVERED  BEFORE 

LAKE  FOREST  COLLEGE 

ON  THE   FOUNDATION   OF   THE    LATE 

WILLIAM  BROSS 


BY 

FREDERICK  JONES  BLISS,  Pn.D. 

AUTHOR  OF  ' 

''EXCAVATIONS  AT  JERUSALEM,  1894-1897" 
'THE  DEVELOPMENT  OP  PALESTINE  EXPLORATION,"  ETC. 


CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
NEW  YORK  1912 


2370 
ibL 


' 

COPYRIGHT,  1912,  BY 
THE  TRUSTEES  OF  LAKE  FOREST  UNIVERSITY 


Published    April^  1912 


TO   DANIEL  BLISS 

PRESIDENT-EMERITUS  OF  THE  SYRIAN  PROTESTANT  COLLEGE 

WHO,   DURING  MORE   THAN  FIFTY  YEARS 

SPENT  AMONG  THE  FOLLOWERS  OF 
THE   MANY  RELIGIONS  OF  SYRIA  AND   PALESTINE,  ~" 

HAS  MANIFESTED   IN   HIS  OWN   LIFE 
RELIGION  PURE  AND   UNDEFILED,   THIS  BOOK 

IS  DEDICATED 
WITH  FILIAL  REVERENCE 

BY   HIS   SON 


239210 


THE   BROSS   FOUNDATION 

THE  Bross  Lectures  are  an  outgrowth  of  a  fund  es- 
tablished in  1879  by  the  late  William  Bross,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  Illinois  from  1866  to  1870.  Desiring  some 
memorial  of  his  son,  Nathaniel  Bross,  who  died  in  1856, 
Mr.  Bross  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  "Trustees 
of  Lake  Forest  University,"  whereby  there  was  finally  trans- 
ferred to  them  the  sum  of  forty  thousand  dollars,  the  in- 
come of  which  was  to  accumulate  in  perpetuity  for  successive 
periods  of  ten  years,  the  accumulations  of  one  decade  to  be 
spent  in  the  following  decade,  for  the  purpose  of  stimulating 
the  best  books  or  treatises  "  on  the  connection,  relation,  and 
mutual  bearing  of  any  practical  science,  the  history  of  our 
race,  or  the  facts  in  any  department  of  knowledge,  with  and 
upon  the  Christian  Religion."  The  object  of  the  donor 
was  to  "  call  out  the  best  efforts  of  the  highest  talent  and  the 
ripest  scholarship  of  the  world  to  illustrate  from  science,  or 
from  any  department  of  knowledge,  and  to  demonstrate  the 
divine  origin  and  the  authority  of  the  Christian  Scriptures; 
and,  further,  to  show  how  both  science  and  revelation  coincide 
and  prove  the  existence,  the  providence,  or  any  or  all  of  the 
attributes  of  the  only  living  and  true  God,  'infinite,  eternal, 
and  unchangeable  in  His  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness, 
justice,  goodness,  and  truth.' ' 

The  gift  contemplated  in  the  original  agreement  of  1879 
was  finally  consummated  in  1890.  The  first  decade  of  the 
accumulation  of  interest  having  closed  in  1900,  the  Trustees 
of  the  Bross  Fund  began  at  this  time  to  carry  out  the  pro- 
visions of  the  deed  of  gift.  It  was  determined  to  give  the 
general  title  of  "The  Bross  Library"  to  the  series  of  books 
purchased  and  published  with  the  proceeds  of  the  Bross 
Fund.  In  accordance  with  the  express  wish  of  the  donor, 
that  the  "Evidences  of  Christianity"  of  his  "very  dear 
friend  and  teacher,  Mark  Hopkins,  D.D.,"  be  purchased 

vii 


viii  THE   BROSS   FOUNDATION 

and  "ever  numbered  and  known  as  No.  1  of  the  series," 
the  Trustees  secured  the  copyright  of  this  work,  which  has 
been  republished  in  a  presentation  edition  as  Volume  I  of 
the  Bross  Library. 

The  trust  agreement  prescribed  two  methods  by  which 
the  production  of  books  and  treatises  of  the  nature  con- 
templated by  the  donor  was  to  be  stimulated: 

1.  The  Trustees  were  empowered  to  offer  one  or  more 
prizes  during  each  decade,  the  competition  for  which  was 
to  be  thrown  open  to  "the  scientific  men,  the  Christian 
philosophers  and  historians  of  all  nations."     In  accordance 
with  this  provision,  a  prize  of  $6,000  was  offered  in  1902  for 
the  best  book  fulfilling  the  conditions  of  the  deed  of  gift, 
the  competing  manuscripts  to  be  presented  on  or  before 
June  1,  1905.     The  prize  was  awarded  to  the  Reverend 
James  Orr,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Apologetics  and  Systematic 
Theology  in  the  United  Free  Church  College,  Glasgow,  for 
his  treatise  on   "The  Problem  of  the  Old  Testament," 
which  was  published  in  1906  as  Volume  III  of  the  Bross 
Library.     The   next  decennial   prize  will  be  awarded  in 
1915,  and  the  announcement  of  the  conditions  may  be  ob- 
tained from  the  President  of  Lake  Forest  College. 

2.  The  Trustees  were  also  empowered  to  "select  and 
designate  any  particular  scientific  man  or  Christian  phi- 
losopher and  the  subject  on  which  he  shall  write,"  and  to 
"  agree  with  him  as  to  the  sum  he  shall  receive  for  the  book 
or  treatise  to  be  written."     Under  this  provision  the  Trus- 
tees have,  from  time  to  time,  invited  eminent  scholars  to 
deliver  courses  of  lectures  before  Lake  Forest  College,  such 
courses  to  be  subsequently  published  as  volumes  in  the 
Bross  Library.     The  first  course  of  lectures,  on  "  Obligatory 
Morality,"  was  delivered  in  May,  1903,  by  the  Reverend 
Francis  Landey  Patton,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Prince- 
ton Theological  Seminary.     The  copyright  of  these  lectures 
is  now  the  property  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Bross  Fund.   The 
second  course  of  lectures,  on  "The  Bible:   Its  Origin  and 
Nature,"  was  delivered  in  May,  1904,  by  the  Reverend 
Marcus  Dods,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Exegetical  Theology  in 
New  College,  Edinburgh.    These  lectures  were  published 


THE   BROSS   FOUNDATION  ix 

in  1905  as  Volume  II  of  the  Bross  Library.  The  third 
course  of  lectures,  on  "  The  Bible  of  Nature,"  was  deliv- 
ered in  September  and  October,  1907,  by  Mr.  J.  Arthur 
Thomson,  M.A.,  Regius  Professor  of  Natural  History  in 
the  University  of  Aberdeen.  These  lectures  were  pub- 
lished in  1908  as  Volume  IV  of  the  Bross  Library.  The 
fourth  course  of  lectures,  on  "The  Religions  of  Modern 
Syria  and  Palestine,"  was  delivered  from  November  30 
to  December  14,  1908,  by  Frederick  Jones  Bliss,  Ph.D., 
of  Beirut,  Syria.  These  lectures  are  embodied  in  the 
present  volume. 

JOHN  SCHOLTE  NOLLEN, 

President  of  Lake  Forest  College. 
LAKE  FOREST,  ILLINOIS, 
February,  1912. 


PREFACE 

THIS  volume  is  an  expansion  of  the  Bross  Lectures  de- 
livered at  Lake  Forest  College  in  1908.  In  order  to  collect 
material  two  journeys  were  made  from  the  United  States 
to  Syria  and  Palestine,  one  before  and  one  after  the  delivery 
of  the  lectures.  For  a  large  part  of  his  life,  moreover,  the 
author  has  been  resident  in  these  lands,  Syria,  indeed,  being 
his  birthplace.  While  many  books  have  been  consulted, 
it  is  in  human  documents  that  the  richest  material  has  been 
found.  The  Greek  liturgies  have  been  studied,  but  the 
manual  acts  of  the  mass  were  explained  to  me  in  the  sitting- 
room  of  a  kindly  parish  priest  whose  wife  had  baked  the 
communion  loaf  which  he  reverently  used  in  illustration. 
Learned  books  on  the  dervishes  have  been  consulted,  but 
it  was  through  the  quaint  tales  of  a  gentle-eyed  sheikh  in 
Jerusalem,  who  left  his  humble  task  of  scouring  pots  and 
kettles  to  make  me  a  visit,  that  I  learned  past  all  forgetting 
that,  in  spite  of  the  wild  demonstrations  which  travellers 
witness  for  a  fee  in  Constantinople  and  Cairo,  the  con- 
trolling motive  of  the  dervish  life  is  the  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness.  Everywhere  I  was  received  with  kind- 
ness. I  had  interviews  with  the  Orthodox  patriarchs  of 
Antioch,  Jerusalem,  and  Alexandria.  Members  of  the  hier- 
archies of  other  Eastern  churches — Greek  Catholic,  Syrian, 
Maronite — imparted  valuable  information.  Missionaries, 
Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant,  gave  of  their  knowledge 
and  experience.  Moslems  of  all  classes  spoke  freely  of 
their  religion.  To  the  students  and  graduates  of  the 
Syrian  Protestant  College  at  Beyrout  I  am  greatly  in- 
debted. A  list  of  those  from  whom  I  have  received  help 
would  swell  to  catalogue  dimensions.  Such  a  list,  indeed, 
would  be  sadly  incomplete,  for  I  know  not  even  the  names 
of  many  who  courteously  answered  my  questions  as  we 
chanced  to  travel  together.  Without  invidiousness  I  may 

xi 


xii  PREFACE 

mention  the  Orthodox  Bishop  of  Beyrout;  the  Reverend 
J.  Stewart  Crawford,  Professor  of  Biblical  Studies  at  the 
Syrian  Protestant  College;  the  Reverend  Dr.  Hoskins,  of 
Beyrout;  the  Reverend  J.  E.  Hanauer,  Missionary  of  the 
London  Jews'  Society,  at  Damascus;  Mr.  Serapion  Murad, 
of  Jaffa;  Dr.  Taufiq  Sallum  and  the  Reverend  Abdallah 
Messuh,  of  Kama;  Mr.  A.  T.  Gelat,  Mr.  E.  A.  Gelat, 
and  Mr.  George  Said,  of  Jerusalem;  Mr.  George  Yanni,  of 
Tripoli;  Mr.  Hanna  Khubbaz,  of  Hums;  Mr.  Gibran 
Luis  and  Mr.  Amin  Paris,  of  Damascus.  I  have  also 
received  information  from  that  intrepid  traveller,  Miss 
Gertrude  Lowthian  Bell,  author  of  "The  Desert  and  the 
Sown."  Valuable  use  has  been  made  of  the  original 
Syrian  journals  of  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  Ives  Curtiss.  Some 
of  these  were  loaned  to  me  by  the  authorities  of  the  Chicago 
Theological  Seminary.  The  latest  journals,  which  Dr. 
Curtiss  never  lived  to  use  in  literary  work,  were  confided  to 
my  care  by  the  late  Professor  Scott  of  the  same  institution, 
whose  property  they  were.  After  his  death  his  family 
generously  permitted  me  to  continue  using  them. 

A  certain  lack  of  proportion  may  be  observed  in  the  space 
here  devoted  to  the  different  cults  respectively.  For  ex- 
ample, there  are  no  chapters  dealing  exclusively  with  the 
Jews  or  with  the  secret  religions,  the  latter  being  briefly 
treated  as  heretical  offshoots  of  Islam.  In  order  to  adapt 
the  great  amount  of  material  which  had  been  collected  to 
the  space  allotted  to  a  volume  of  the  Bross  Library,  both 
condensation  and  elimination  became  imperative.  The 
final  form  was  determined  by  a  number  of  reasons  which  it 
is  not  necessary  to  detail.  I  hope  to  develop  in  the  future 
the  material  already  gathered  but  not  here  used,  material 
relating  to  the  Jews,  Druses,  Nuseiriyeh,  and  Isma'iliyeh. 

F.  J.  B. 

ROCHESTER,  N.  Y., 
January,  1912. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE  HISTORIC  SETTING: 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE       3 

I.  Development  of  the  Cults 7 

II.  Inter-Relations  of  the  Cults 22 

II.    THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES: 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE       35 

I.  The  Orthodox  Church 39 

II.  The  Recent   National   Movement   in   the 

Orthodox  Church       60 

III.  The  Jacobite  or  Old  Syrian  Church     .     .  74 

IV.  The  Uniates 81 

V.  The  Maronites        96 

VI.  The  Monasteries 113 

III.  THE  RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES: 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 123 

I.  The  Eastern  Liturgies 128 

II.  Baptism,  Marriage,  and  Burial     ....  140 

III.  The  Church  Year 155 

IV.  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM: 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 171 

I.  Confession  of  the  Creed 177 

II.  Prayer 199 

III.  Fasting  and  Legal  Alms 210 

IV.  Pilgrimage 217 

xiii 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

V.    THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM: 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 225 

I.  The  Mohammedan  Hagiology 227 

II.  The  Dervish  Organization 234 

III.  The  Dervish  Life 255 

VI.    OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM: 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 276 

I.  Woman  and  Marriage 278 

II.  Death  and  Burial        291 

III.  The  Shi'ah  Sect 294 

VII.    THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 313 

APPENDIX 337 

INDEX  345 


THE  RELIGIONS  OF 
MODERN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

TWENTY-FIVE  hundred  feet  above  the  Mediterranean,  and 
within  sound  of  its  waves,  there  is  an  irregular  line  of  five 
villages  stretching  for  about  two  miles  along  the  seaward 
slope  of  the  Lebanon.  This  small  group,  taken  almost  at 
random  from  the  hundreds  of  mountain  towns,  may  serve 
to  illustrate  the  scope  of  this  volume.  The  largest  village, 
Suq-el-Gharb,  or  the  Western  Market,  is  peopled  mainly  by 
members  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  though  it  contains 
also  a  number  of  families  now  Protestant.  Separated  on  the 
north  from  the  Western  Market  by  no  perceptible  boundary 
runs  out  Mekkin,  with  its  large  convent  belonging  to  the 
Greek  Catholics,  or  Greeks  now  united  to  Rome.  Below 
Suq-el-Gharb  and  a  little  to  the  south,  partly  concealed  by 
a  grove  of  ancient  oaks,  nestles  ' Aitat,  inhabited  almost  en- 
tirely by  Druses,  followers  of  a  religion  of  secrecy  and  mys- 
tery, one  of  the  heretical  offshoots  of  Islam.  Higher  up  on 
the  range  is  planted  the  hamlet  of  Kefun,  which  contains 
nothing  but  Mohammedans,  not  Orthodox  Sunnis,  like  those 
resident  in  the  city  of  Beyrout,  which  gleams  on  the  plains 
below,  but  Metawileh  Shi'ahs,  of  the  sect  of  Islam  that  rules 
in  Persia.  And,  last  of  the  group,  to  the  south  is  Shemlan, 
where  are  found  practically  none  but  Maronites,  proud  of 
their  membership  in  the  National  Syrian  Church  of  the 
Lebanon;  like  the  Greek  Catholics,  Eastern  in  rite  and  prac- 
tice, and,  like  them,  giving  allegiance  to  a  Western  pope. 
Thus  segregated  by  groups  in  the  compass  of  a  few  hundred 
yards,  we  find  examples  of  all  the  religions  to  be  here  dis- 
cussed at  length,  except  the  Sunni  Moslems  and  the  Jacobite 
and  Catholic  Syrians. 


4  THE -HISTORIC  SETTING 

Before  showing  how  and  when  these  various  bodies  found 
a  home  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  we  may  dwell  for  a  moment 
on  the  hold  which  religion  itself,  apart  from  any  particular 
form,  has  on  the  whole  Syrian  people.  The  religious  con- 
sciousness, everywhere  and  at  all  times,  is  the  consciousness 
of  the  relation  of  the  individual  to  God,  whatever  the  idea  of 
God  may  be.  Apart  from  the  quality  of  the  conception, 
I  assert  that  the  idea  of  God  is  present  to  the  common  con- 
sciousness in  Syria  and  Palestine  with  a  vividness  lacking  to 
the  common  consciousness  in  Western  Protestant  lands  at 
the  present  time.  Rain,  in  the  Holy  Land,  not  only  falls  on 
the  just  and  the  unjust,  but  the  just  and  the  unjust  unite  in 
believing  that  God  sends  it.  Such  belief  is  more  than  a  re- 
ligious tradition:  it  is  actual,  potent.  "Inshallah"  ("If 
God  will")  is  often  uttered  merely  as  the  equivalent  of  "I 
hope  so,"  but  the  stereotyped  use  of  the  phrase  has  not 
usurped  its  real  meaning.  The  language  of  daily  life  is 
permeated  with  similar  religious  phrases.  Sometimes  a 
gesture  suffices.  While  writing  this  book,  I  questioned  a 
statement  made  by  an  Egyptian  peddler  at  a  summer  resort 
in  the  United  States.  Instantly  his  fat,  jolly  face  became 
solemn.  Not  a  word  he  uttered;  he  only  pointed  upward. 
God  was  there,  and  ready  to  witness.  Owing  to  this  para- 
mount instinct  of  religion,  as  well  as  to  other  conditions  that 
will  presently  appear,  a  Syrian  is  always  labelled  with  the  tag 
of  the  particular  faith  which  he  follows.  Asking  the  details 
of  a  murder,  you  may  receive  the  answer:  "A  Moslem  killed 
a  Jew"  or  "A  Christian  shot  a  Druse."  You  are  likely  to 
describe  your  servants,  for  example,  as  "  Two  Orthodox,  one 
Maronite,  and  a  Greek  Catholic."  How  common  is  this 
form  of  category  may  be  illustrated  by  the  question  a  person 
may  ask  when  wishing  to  know  the  composition  of  a  tasty 
dish  or  of  any  inanimate  object.  "Shu  dinu?"  he  says  in 
colloquial  Arabic,  "What  is  its  religion?" 

All  Syrians  of  whatever  faith  have  a  knowledge  of  the  out- 
ward forms  of  their  religion,  which  is  rare  among  the  laity 
of  the  United  States.  In  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  at 
Beyrout  may  be  found  followers  of  nearly  all  the  faiths 
mentioned  in  this  work,  The  information  in  regard  to  the 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  5 

details  of  belief  and  practise  which  I  obtained  from  under- 
graduates usually  stood  the  test  when  later  I  sought  for  ver- 
ification from  other  sources.  These,  it  may  be  objected, 
were  picked  men.  Listen,  then,  to  the  following  tale. 
Some  years  ago  my  father  stopped  for  lunch  by  a  fountain 
in  northern  Syria,  and  had  this  conversation  with  a  shep- 
herd lad  who  held  his  horse: 

"What  is  your  religion?"  was  the  lad's  first  question. 

"I  will  not  tell  you  directly,"  answered  my  father,  "but 
I  will  answer  any  questions  you  ask  about  it." 

"Do  you  believe  in  God?"  said  the  lad. 

"Yes,"  said  my  father. 

"Then  you  are  not  a  heathen,"  said  the  boy.  "Do  you 
believe  in  Christ?" 

"I  do." 

"  Then  you  are  a  Christian.    What  sect  do  you  belong  to  ?  " 

"I  won't  tell  you  that  yet,"  was  the  answer.  "Go  on 
asking  me  questions." 

The  lad  paused,  looked  puzzled,  suddenly  brightened,  and 
then  said: 

"Do  you  believe  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son  or  from  the  Father  alone  ? " 

Recalling  the  ancient  theological  formula  of  the  West,  my 
father  said  that  his  church  believed  in  the  procession  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son. 

"Then  you  are  a  Maronite!"  said  the  boy  triumphantly. 
The  Maronites,  it  may  be  added,  differ  from  the  Greek 
Church  in  accepting  the  Western  formula,  with  which  Prot- 
estant theology  is  in  accord.  What  explanation  my  father 
made  does  not  concern  us  here.  The  point  for  us  is 
that  this  Syrian  peasant,  barefoot,  unlettered,  untravelled, 
had  it  on  the  tip  of  his  tongue  to  name  the  controversy 
that  had  split  the  church  universal  eight  hundred  years 
before. 

This  is  not  the  place  even  to  enumerate  the  reasons  why 
the  conception  of  God  is  more  vivid  and  more  all-pervading 
among  Oriental  peoples  than  it  is  in  the  West,  but  in  justice 
to  ourselves  a  few  words  may  be  added  in  partial  explanation 
of  the  difference.  There  has  been  no  more  important  mo- 


6  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

ment  in  the  history  of  religion  than  when  the  great  Hebrew 
prophets  unveiled  the  truth  that  as  far  as  He  is  related  to 
human  life  God  is  pre-eminently  a  God  of  righteousness. 
Since  the  time  of  that  vision,  for  all  who  have  true  spiritual 
apprehension,  religion  without  morality  has  been  inconceiv- 
able. This  union  of  religion  and  morality  has  continued  to 
be  the  ideal  of  Judaism,  and  since  their  inception  has  been 
also  the  ideal  of  Christianity  and  in  a  lesser  degree  the  ideal 
of  Islam.  But  in  the  actual  practice  of  these  three  religions 
the  ideal  has  suffered  change.  In  Islam  and  in  Eastern 
Christianity  this  conception  of  the  vital  relation  between 
morality  and  religion  is  far  from  clear  at  the  present  time. 
In  Western  Christianity  the  ideal,  which  had  grown  dim, 
was  rekindled  by  the  Reformation.  Since  then  it  has  gov- 
erned the  Protestant  world.  Freedom  from  superstition, 
however,  was  bought  with  a  price.  Personal  religion  has 
been  enormously  benefited,  but,  in  the  very  process  of  puri- 
fying the  individual  conception,  what  may  be  called  the  com- 
mon consciousness  of  God  has  suffered  loss.  The  strict 
Puritan  theory,  logically  carried  out,  tends  to  the  following 
position:  If  man's  relation  to  God  must  of  necessity  include 
an  acknowledged  desire  to  fulfil  all  moral  obligations,  it 
follows  that  those  who  deliberately  stifle  conscience  end  in 
having  no  personal  relation  to  Divine  Providence.  Shut  out 
from  their  moral  world,  God  is  shut  out  from  their  entire 
cosmos.  Protestantism  tends  to  divide  the  sheep  from  the 
goats  in  this  world.  To  the  unethical  man  it  offers  no  re- 
ligious consolation;  it  expects  from  him,  remaining  uneth- 
ical, no  religious  duties.  That  the  converse  is  practically 
true  in  the  Eastern  church  and  in  Islam  explains  both  the 
strength  and  weakness  of  these  cults.  For  the  "uncon- 
verted" Protestant,  then,  religion  is  in  eclipse.  Such  a  con- 
dition reacts  on  the  "  converted."  Living  in  a  world  where 
by  the  majority  God  is  disregarded  as  a  vital  factor  of  the 
common  life  of  work  and  play,  they  are  subtly  affected  by 
the  enveloping  atmosphere.  Their  own  relation  to  God, 
being  private  and  individual  rather  than  objective,  is  defi- 
nitely realized  only  in  moments  of  direct  spiritual  commun- 
ion. These  moments  naturally  form  the  exception,  not 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  7 

the  rule,  of  their  daily  life,  for  we  are  speaking  of  aver- 
age Christians,  not  of  the  saints.  Providence  in  all  of  its 
common  manifestations  is  largely  relegated  to  the  realm  of 
the  theoretic.  Intellectually,  the  idea  is  accepted  and,  if 
questioned,  would  be  stoutly  defended;  but  as  a  matter  of 
experience  it  is  imperfectly  vitalized. 

That  such  a  tendency  exists  in  Protestant  Christendom 
cannot  be  gainsaid.  That  historically  it  had  its  inception  in 
a  nobler  conception  of  God  than  had  hitherto  prevailed  we 
have  already  indicated.  That  it  is  far  less  widely  operative 
among  the  simple  people  than  among  the  intellectual  is  true. 
That  it  has  been  nourished  by  many  other  influences  is 
probable.  But  that  it  has  been  incidental  rather  than  neces- 
sary to  the  development  of  the  nobler  conception  may  be 
confidently  asserted.  What  we  need  is  a  synthesis  of  the 
ideas  of  the  Orient  and  of  the  Occident.  If  ever  the  East 
and  the  West  consent  to  learn  the  best  from  each  other,  the 
Oriental  conception  of  God  will  become  purer,  more  ethical, 
more  effective,  while  the  Western  conception  will  grow  more 
vivid,  will  touch  the  common  life  of  the  religious  man  at  a 
thousand  new  points,  and  will  appear  as  a  vital  force  to  those 
whom  now  it  influences  not  at  all. 

I.    DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS 

When  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  Apostles  were  inflamed 
with  the  purpose  of  preaching  the  new  religion,  later  called 
Christianity,  they  did  not  foresee  that  this  was  to  take  root 
and  to  flourish  chiefly  among  the  Gentiles  or  heathen.  In 
the  beginning  their  message  was  delivered  exclusively  to  the 
Jews.  At  that  time  the  population  of  Syria  was  between  six 
and  seven  millions  of  souls,  of  whom  about  one  million  were 
Jews.  In  Palestine  where  the  population  was  less,  the  Jews 
numbered  about  seven  hundred  thousand.1  The  earliest 
Christian  church  of  Jerusalem,  thus,  was  Jewish.  But  as 
a  practical  result  of  the  great  revelation  of  the  universal 

1  Professor  Harnack  is  authority  for  these  numbers.  This  section  is 
further  indebted  to  his  "Expansion  of  Christianity,"  vol.  XIX  of  "The 
Theological  Translation  Library"  (New  York,  1904). 


8  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

character  of  Christianity,  vouchsafed  first  to  Peter  and  then 
to  Paul,  the  gospel  was  soon  preached  to  the  Gentiles  also. 
With  Peter  the  idea  of  fellowship  with  the  Gentiles  who  had 
become  Christians  was  largely  theoretic.  His  failure  to  put 
it  into  practice  at  Antioch  brought  him  into  sharp  colli- 
sion with  Paul.  For  with  Paul  the  idea  had  become  vital, 
paramount,  controlling.  It  altered  his  whole  career.  He 
was  pre-eminently  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  And  Paul, 
historically  speaking,  laid  the  foundations  of  Christian 
empire.  The  Jewish  converts  counted  for  little  or  nothing 
in  the  subsequent  history  of  the  church.  Numerically  they 
were  always  weak.  The  mother  church  of  Jerusalem  dis- 
appeared completely  when  Hadrian  prohibited  all  circum- 
cised persons  from  entering  the  town  of  Aelia  Capitolina, 
which  he  had  built  on  the  ruined  site  of  the  Holy  City  sixty 
years  after  its  destruction  by  Titus.  In  the  nineteenth  year 
of  Hadrian's  reign,  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  was  one  Marcus, 
a  Greek  Gentile.  From  him  the  present  Greek  patriarch 
claims  ecclesiastical  succession  in  unbroken  chain.  In  the 
second  century  a  large  part  of  the  Jewish  church  became 
Hellenized  and  was  merged  in  the  main  body  of  Christendom. 
So  alienated  did  the  unimportant  remnant  grow  that  about 
the  year  180  A.  D.  the  Catholic  Church  branded  Christian 
Jews  as  heretics.  In  the  course  of  the  ages  the  Jewish  pop- 
ulation of  Palestine  almost  disappeared.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  the  remote  ancestors  of  the  eighty  thousand  Jews1 
now  resident  hi  the  Holy  Land  proper  were  numbered 
among  the  Jews  of  Palestine  in  the  time  of  Paul,  but  in  the 
majority  of  cases  their  immediate  progenitors  came  from 
Spain,  Russia,  Poland,  Roumania,  or  Arabia.  The  sixty 
thousand  Jews,  however,  at  present  dwelling  in  Syria,  at 
Damascus,  Aleppo,  and  in  other  places  are,  in  all  but  re- 
ligion, native  Syrians,  following  the  customs,  sharing  the 
superstitions,  and  speaking  the  native  Arabic  language  of 
the  land.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  ancestors  of  many 

1  It  may  be  acknowledged  at  once  that  all  statements  as  to  the  num- 
bers of  any  given  sect  in  Syria  and  Palestine  are,  at  best,  only  approxi- 
mate, and  often  mere  guesswork.  The  total  population  is  probably 
between  three  and  three  and  one-half  million. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  9 

of  these  have  lived  in  Syria  continuously  since  the  time  of  the 
Diaspora. 

For  the  ancestors  of  the  various  Christian  peoples  now  liv- 
ing in  Syria  and  Palestine  we  must  look,  then,  in  the  main, 
to  the  Gentiles  or  heathen  to  whom  Paul  and  his  fellow- 
missionaries  preached.  Though  divided  into  many  bodies, 
the  modern  Christians  may  be  roughly  classed  together,  but 
at  the  time  when  Christianity  was  first  preached  the  heathen- 
ism of  Syria  and  Palestine  was  in  no  sense  a  unit.  In  the 
cities  the  Greek  forms  of  worship  prevailed;  in  the  coun- 
try the  local  cults  were  followed.  Some  of  these  had  sur- 
vived from  the  earliest  days,  having  never  been  stamped  out 
by  Judaism.  Others  were  of  later  origin.  Especially  in 
Syria  there  had  been  developed  what  may  be  called  syn- 
thetic or  eclectic  cults,  by  grafting  borrowed  ideas  on  the 
local  religions.  Against  the  gospel  propaganda,  which  flour- 
ished in  an  extraordinary  manner,  notwithstanding  the 
fierce  government  persecutions,  all  the  old  religions  made 
stout  resistance.  Even  after  the  Emperor  Constantine  rec- 
ognized Christianity  officially,  the  proud  cities  of  Ascalon 
and  Gaza  were  strongly  pagan.  While  the  coast  towns  of 
Phrenicia  were  nominally  Christian,  inland  places  contin- 
ued to  be  homogeneously  heathen.  "Pagan"  (rural)  and 
"heathen"  became  synonymous  terms.  During  the  pagan 
reaction  under  Julian,  called  "the  Apostate,"  Christians 
were  savagely  tortured  in  the  centres  of  the  old  cults.  The 
edicts  of  Theodosius,  the  last  of  which  was  issued  in  390, 
closed  the  temples,  confiscated  the  religious  property,  and 
abolished  the  privileges  of  heathen  priests.  Then,  indeed, 
paganism  crumbled  away.  Gibbon  speaks  of  the  phenom- 
enon as  "the  only  example  of  the  total  extinction  of  any 
ancient  and  popular  superstition."  "The  generation  that 
arose  in  the  world  after  the  promulgation  of  the  imperial 
laws,"  so  he  goes  on,  "  was  attracted  within  the  pale  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  so  rapid,  yet  so  gentle,  was  the  fall  of 
paganism,  that  only  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  Theo- 
dosius the  faint  and  minute  vestiges  were  no  longer  visible 
to  the  eyes  of  the  legislator."  l 

1  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,"  chap.  XXVIII. 


10  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

A  foot-note  to  this  passage  states  that  the  younger  Theo- 
dosius  was  afterward  satisfied  that  his  judgment  was  some- 
what premature.  He  did  well  to  look  deeper.  Vestiges 
there  are  to-day  of  the  old  cults,  and  neither  faint  nor  mi- 
nute, though  fifteen  hundred  years  have  passed  away  since  the 
edicts  of  Theodosius  the  Elder.  As  an  organism,  paganism 
indeed  crumbled,  but  its  soul  continued  to  hover  over  the 
Holy  Land.  There  is  no  religion  after  the  Order  of  Melchize- 
dek,  without  father,  without  mother,  without  descent.  In  its 
localized  worship  of  saints  and  martyrs  Christianity  had  an 
immediate  legacy  from  Polytheism,  with  its  god  for  every 
place  and  its  god  for  every  need.  This  legacy  was  later 
shared  by  Islam.  The  Cult  of  the  Shrines,  common  to-day 
to  Moslems,  Christians,  and  Jews,  is  essentially  the  old  Cult 
of  the  High  Places.  In  monasteries  where  the  Christians 
vow  to  Elijah  or  to  Saint  George,  there  the  Moslems  vow 
to  the  mysterious  Khudr,  the  Ever  Green  or  Ever  Living 
One,  whom  they  identify  with  both.  At  the  Moslem  Shrines 
of  the  Khudr  Christians  invoke  Saint  George.  At  Jobar, 
near  Damascus,  the  Arabic-speaking  Jews  pay  vows  at  the 
Shrine  of  Elijah,  whom  they  too  call  Khudr,  and  take  part 
in  a  nature  dance,  the  men  separately  from  the  women.1 
Persistence  of  some  of  the  details  of  heathen  worship  among 
the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains  north  of  the  Lebanon  doubt- 
less accounts  for  some  of  the  elements  still  found  in  the  re- 
ligions of  the  Nuseiriyeh  and  of  the  Isma'iliyeh.  The  sur- 
vival of  the  spirit  of  paganism  around  the  roots  of  Mount 
Hermon  may  explain  the  ready  acceptance  by  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  strange  doctrines  of  the  Druses,  brought  to 


1  The  late  Dr.  Samuel  Ives  Curtiss,  whose  latest  note-books  I  have 
had  the  privilege  of  studying  (see  Preface),  is  authority  for  this  state- 
ment. He  also  gives  examples  of  the  contradictory  stories  related  of 
Khudr.  Some  Moslems  accept  the  double  identification  with  Elijah 
and  Saint  George.  Some  accept  the  first  but  not  the  second.  Others 
claim  that  Elijah  and  the  Khudr  were  different  persons.  Baldensperger 
(see  his  article,  "Orders  of  Holy  Men  in  Palestine,"  "  Quarterly  State- 
ment of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,"  1894,  p.  25)  gives  a  prayer 
used  at  a  Dervish  initiation  in  which  Elias  (Elijah)  and  Khudr  are  called 
brothers. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  11 

them  from  Persia  by  way  of  Egypt  early  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. Traces  of  old  sacrificial  ideas  may  still  be  found  in 
the  colloquial  Arabic  phrases.  Once,  when  camping  under 
the  ancient  cedars  of  the  Lebanon,  my  father  was  taken 
ill.  His  recovery  was  rapid,  but  the  next  day  my  beautiful 
horse  fell  sick  and  died,  notwithstanding  the  care  of  the 
faithful  Christian  muleteers.  "  Fedahu ! "  "It  is  his  redemp- 
tion!" they  said,  regretting  the  loss  of  the  horse  but  rejoic- 
ing in  my  father's  recovery. 

Christianity  in  Syria  and  Palestine  developed  along  two 
parallel  lines,  following  two  parallel  lines  of  civilization: 
Hellenic  in  the  cities,  Syrian  in  the  country.  The  new  re- 
ligion took  root  in  both  zones  of  civilization  and  was  colored 
by  each  type.  Thus  two  types  of  churches  arose:  the  Hel- 
lenic, using  in  their  services  the  Greek  language,  and  the 
Syrian,  using  the  Syriac  or  Aramaic.  In  Palestine  the  Greek 
type  was  represented  almost  exclusively,  though  in  a  few 
churches  services  were  conducted  in  both  languages.  In 
Syria  the  two  types  operated,  but  from  different  centres.  In 
course  of  time  Antioch  came  to  be  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Greek  type  and  far-away  Edessa  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Syrian  type.  The  line  of  cleavage  between  the  zones  was 
not  definite.  Undoubtedly,  in  the  Greek  zone  of  influence, 
especially  in  the  villages  out  of  touch  with  the  great  cities, 
there  were  congregations  that  long  continued  to  follow  the 
Syrian  type  of  worship,  conducted  in  their  own  Syrian  lan- 
guage. The  two  types  have  survived  to  the  present  day,  the 
Greek  type  being  represented  by  the  Greek  Orthodox,  and 
the  Greek  Catholic  Melchites,  who  split  off  from  the  Ortho- 
dox as  late  as  1724.  The  Syrian  type  is  represented  by  the 
Syrian  Jacobites,  by  the  Syrian  Catholics  (a  comparatively 
modern  body),  and  by  the  Maronites,  who  constitute  the 
National  Church  of  the  Lebanon.  The  term  Melchite,  re- 
adopted  by  that  branch  of  the  Greek  Church  which  accepted 
the  allegiance  of  Rome,  is  charged  with  the  memories  of  a 
storm  that  came  near  to  wrecking  Catholicism  in  the  fifth, 
sixth,  and  seventh  centuries.  Orthodoxy  in  those  days  was 
maintained  by  imperial  power.  Christians  in  Syria  who 
clung  to  the  heresies  relating  to  the  person  of  Christ  con- 


12  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

demned  by  the  Council  of  Ephesus  (431),  by  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon  (451),  and  the  Third  Council  of  Constantinople, 
(680)  came  to  be  known  as  Mardaites  or  Rebels.  In  turn 
they  applied  the  nickname  Melchites  to  those  who  bowed 
to  the  imperial  will  in  matters  of  belief.  Melchites,  then, 
signified  Royalists  or  King's  Men.  In  Syria  the  Monophy- 
site  heresy  took  deep  root  among  those  who  followed  the 
Syrian  forms  of  worship.  It  seems  never  to  have  infected 
the  churches  of  Palestine.1  The  first  definite  split  with  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Syria  was  effected  by  the  monk  James, 
or  Jacobus  Baradaeus,  who  died  in  the  year  578.  Such  of 
the  Syrian  clergy  as  held  Monophysite  views  he  organized 
into  a  regular  hierarchy,  with  their  own  Patriarch  of  Antioch. 
Members  of  the  new  organization  came  to  be  known  as 
Jacobites.  The  seat  of  the  patriarch  was  later  transferred 
to  Mesopotamia,  where  it  still  is.  At  one  time  the  Syrian 
churches,  including  the  Nestorian  (which  does  not  fall 
within  the  pale  of  our  discussion),  threatened  to  outrank  the 
Orthodox  body,  but  after  the  eleventh  century  their  decline 
was  assured.  The  Jacobite  communion  to-day  plays  no 
important  r6le  among  the  Christian  churches  of  Syria, 
though  it  continues  to  be  a  power  in  Mesopotamia.  Even 
there,  however,  the  portion  that  has  seceded  to  Rome,  under 
the  name  of  Syrian  Catholics,  threatens  to  overshadow  the 
old  Syrian  communion. 

Far  more  germane  to  our  present  discussion  is  the  origin 
of  the  Lebanon  Maronites,  who  to-day  form  the  largest  and 
most  compact  Christian  body  in  Syria.  The  form  of  heresy 
which  these  warlike  inhabitants  of  the  Lebanon  finally  en- 
tertained was  really  the  invention  of  that  imperial  opportu- 
nist of  the  seventh  century,  the  Emperor  Heraclius.  As  a 
compromise  between  Orthodoxy  and  Monophysitism,  he 
proposed  to  substitute  a  doctrine  that  came  to  be  known  as 
Monothelitism.2  This  was  condemned  at  the  Third  Council 
of  Constantinople  (680),  but  the  Syrians  of  Lebanon  indig- 
nantly refused  to  give  up  the  doctrine,  imperial  in  inception, 

1  To  this  day  no  native  church  flourishes  in  Palestine  proper  but  the 
Orthodox,  though  others  are  represented. 

2  See  foot-note  on  p.  35. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  13 

but  now  imperially  repudiated,  and  thereby  earned  a  fresh 
title  to  the  name  Mardaites  or  Rebels,  in  which  they  gloried. 
In  685,  five  years  after  the  council,  they  organized  them- 
selves into  a  separate  body,  electing  as  their  patriarch  one 
John  Maro.  The  Maronites  of  to-day,  however,  derive  their 
name  from  an  alleged  Saint  Marun,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
established  a  monastery  at  the  source  of  the  Orontes  in  the 
fifth  century,  gathering  about  him  three  hundred  and  fifty 
monks.  Originally  a  Syrian  church  in  language  and  in 
ritual,  the  Maronite  body  underwent  little  alteration  even 
after  its  submission  to  the  authority  of  Rome  in  1182.  Its 
tendency  to  conform  to  Roman  practice  dates  from  com- 
paratively modern  times.  When  in  the  next  chapter  we 
follow  the  fortunes  of  the  Maronites  more  closely,  we  shall 
note  that  they  claim  to  have  always  formed  a  part  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  stoutly  denying  all  charges  of 
former  heresy. 

It  is  clear,  thus,  that  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present 
day  the  liturgical  language  of  the  Jacobites  and  Maronites 
has  been  Syriac.  The  Greek  Orthodox  and  the  Greek 
Catholics,  the  modern  representatives  of  the  old  Melchites, 
have  long  used  the  Byzantine  liturgies  and  other  Greek 
forms  of  service,  though  at  the  present  day  Arabic  transla- 
tions of  all  these  are  used  in  the  Syrian  churches.1  The 
Byzantine  liturgies  of  Saint  Chrysostom  and  Saint  Basil, 
now  universally  used  in  the  Orthodox  Church  in  all  lands, 
date  from  the  eighth  century.  Just  when  these  were 
adopted  by  the  Orthodox  Churches  of  Syria  is  not  known, 
though  they  probably  were  in  use  by  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  before  that  time  con- 
siderable latitude  was  allowed  among  the  Melchites  in  the 
use  of  the  liturgies.  We  have  seen  that  purely  Greek  types 
of  worship  characterized  the  Syrian  towns,  but  in  country 
districts  such  churches  as  remained  loyal  to  the  king's  party 
probably  continued  to  retain  for  some  time  their  form  of 

1  Jacques  de  Vitry,  Bishop  of  Acre  in  1217,  informs  us  that  the  Syrian 
Orthodox  of  his  day  used  Greek  services  not  understood  of  the  people 
who  spoke  Arabic.  See  his  "Historia  Hierosolymitana,"  LXXIV, 
found  in  the  "Gesta  Dei  per  Francos,"  edition  of  Bongars. 


14  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

worship,  sometimes  in  the  Syriac  language,  sometimes  in 
Greek  translation.1 

While  the  church  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  was  being  rent 
by  the  questions  whether  Christ  had  one  nature  or  two 
natures,  one  will  or  two  wills;  while  its  subjects  were  rang- 
ing themselves  either  as  King's  Men  or  Rebels;  while,  in 
the  passion  for  correct  thinking  about  Christ,  the  idea  of 
right  living  in  the  name  and  after  the  example  of  the  meek 
and  lowly  Jesus  was  fast  disappearing,  in  far-away  Arabia 
a  great  religious  genius  was  burning  with  the  passion  to 
make  known,  by  persuasion  or  by  force,  the  simple  truth 
that  God  is  One.  In  the  spiritual  lifelessness  and  the 
doctrinal  divisions  of  Christianity  lay  the  opportunity  of 
Islam.  Mohammed's  flight  from  Mecca  to  Medinah  with 
a  few  faithful  followers  dates  the  beginning  of  the  Moslem 
era  at  622.  Ten  years  later,  Islam,  by  the  power  of  tongue 
and  of  sword,  had  conquered  Arabia,  and  under  Khaled, 
the  Sword  of  God,  was  attempting  the  conquest  of  Palestine. 
It  was  a  holy  war.  Empire  was  sought  over  men's  souls  as 
well  as  over  men's  bodies.  The  leaders  of  the  movement, 
'Omar,  Khaled,  Abu  'Obeidah,  were  men  of  great  faith.  It 
was  with  much  the  same  purpose,  according  to  the  Hebrew 
narrative,  and  with  much  the  same  methods  of  war  that  Caleb 
and  Joshua  had  led  the  forces  of  Israel  over  the  same  ground 
two  thousand  years  before.  Bosrah,  "on  the  other  side  of 
the  Jordan,"  was  the  first  town  to  fall,  betrayed  by  its  gov- 
ernor, who  publicly  accepted  the  religion  of  his  conquerors 
with  the  declaration:  "I  choose  Allah  for  my  God,  Islam 
for  my  Faith,  Mecca  for  my  Temple."  Six  years  after  this 
first  victory,  the  whole  of  Syria  and  Palestine  had  come  un- 
der the  Moslem  sway.  And  under  this  sway,  save  for  the 
brief  period  of  crusading  rule,  these  lands  have  remained 
for  thirteen  centuries.  No  previous  domination  of  which 
we  have  any  clear  chronological  account — Jewish,  Persian, 
Greek,  Roman,  Byzantine — has  lasted  as  long.  The  de- 

1  For  a  discussion  of  this  question  see  Lammens,  in  "Al  Machriq" 
(published  at  the  Jesuit  Press  at  Beyrout),  March  15,  1900.  Also 
R.  P.  Vailhe*  in  the  "Echos  d'Orient,"  tome  VI  (1903),  p.  143. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  15 

scendants  of  Khaled  are  prominent  in  the  life  of  Jerusalem 
to-day.  Among  them  I  have  counted  as  friends  men  of 
noble  character  and  keen  wit.  To  the  tomb  of  Khaled  at 
Hums  still  flock  thousands  at  one  of  the  great  local  festivals 
of  the  year. 

When  the  Moslem  conquest  of  Syria  and  Palestine  be- 
gan, the  population  was  nominally  Christian.  To-day  the 
Christians  number  less  than  half  as  many  as  the  Moslems. 
The  conquerors  offered  to  the  inhabitants  the  choice  of 
acceptance  of  Islam,  tribute,  or  death.  Great  numbers  of 
the  Christians  were  killed  in  actual  battle.  In  the  fierce 
fight  on  the  plain  between  Eleutheropolis  (Beit  Jibrin)  and 
Ramleh,  fifty  thousand  Christians  are  said  to  have  perished. 
The  Christians  of  to-day  are  descendants  of  those  who  chose 
to  pay  tribute  to  conquerors.  The  continued  survival  of  so 
great  a  number  through  all  the  subsequent  persecutions  testi- 
fies to  a  vitality  of  the  faith  which  all  the  dry-rot  of  theological 
speculation  has  never  destroyed.  As  to  the  ancestry  of  the 
present  followers  of  Islam  only  a  guess  can  be  made.  The 
greater  number  must  be  descendants  of  such  Christians  as 
accepted  the  faith  of  the  conquerors.1  These  probably  in- 
cluded many  whose  Christian  belief  was  hardly  more  than 
a  veneer  over  a  never-eradicated  Pagan  basis.  Following 
many  of  the  immemorial  religious  customs,  keeping  the  old 
feasts  under  other  names,  worshipping  at  the  old  shrines,  a 
change  of  allegiance  from  Christianity  to  Islam  made  little 
difference  to  them.  This,  however,  is  merely  conjecture. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  great  noble  Moslem  families  to-day 
trace  their  pedigree  to  Arabia,  through  the  early  heroes  of 
Islam.  Many  Moslems  of  the  humbler  class  are  doubtless 
the  descendants  of  the  common  soldiers  of  the  Arab  army, 
who  formed  alliances  with  the  Syrian  women.  It  would  be 
a  task,  both  interesting  and  fruitful,  to  go  through  the  his- 
torical records  in  search  of  such  chance  clews  as  would  throw 
more  light  on  the  obscure  question  of  the  ethnic  relations  of 
the  present  inhabitants  of  Syria  and  Palestine. 

1  Dr.  Harvey  Porter,  professor  of  history  in  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College  at  Beyrout,  states  that  from  his  general  reading  he  has  formed 
the  impression  that  about  one-half  the  population  became  Moslems  at 
the  time  of  'Omar. 


16  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

Through  the  victory  of  Islam,  organic  Christianity  in  these 
lands  received  a  terrible  set-back,  from  which  it  has  never 
recovered.  Bright  spots,  however,  illuminate  the  dark  pict- 
ure of  the  conquest.  According  to  the  view  of  Gibbon,  the 
toleration  prevailing  at  Damascus  through  the  gentler  coun- 
sels of  Abu  'Obeidah  accounts  for  the  present  large  Christian 
population.  The  superb  arrogance  of  Sophronius,  Patri- 
arch of  Jerusalem,  who,  after  the  Holy  City  had  been  be- 
sieged four  months  by  Abu  'Obeidah,  refused  to  make  terms 
with  any  one  but  the  Caliph  'Omar  himself  (forced  to  travel 
from  Arabia  for  the  purpose),  secured  for  the  Christians  of 
the  city  a  Covenant  or  Bill  of  Rights  which  has  been  ratified 
by  all  the  subsequent  Moslem  dynasties.  Writing  three 
and  a  half  centuries  later  the  Moslem  historian  Muqad- 
dasi  ("the  Jerusalemite")  complains  that  in  his  native  city 
"everywhere  the  Christians  and  the  Jews  have  the  upper 
hand."  To  this  day  the  relations  between  Moslems  and 
Christians  in  Jerusalem  are  more  harmonious  than  in  other 
towns  of  the  same  size.  When  there  resident  I  used  to 
patronize  a  barber's  shop  where  a  Christian  and  a  Moham- 
medan worked  in  partnership. 

After  the  death  of  Sophronius,  however,  no  patriarch  was 
resident  in  the  Holy  City  for  sixty  years.  The  See  of 
Antioch  was  vacant  for  over  a  century,  though  the  line  was 
kept  up  by  a  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  resident  at  Constanti- 
nople. Everywhere  Christian  churches  were  converted  into 
mosques.  The  speech  of  the  conquerors  came  to  be  the 
speech  of  the  conquered.  The  Syriac  language  fled  into  the 
mountain  recesses.  The  only  traces  of  it  to-day  are  found 
in  three  small  villages,  Ma'lula,  Bukh'a,  and  Jeb'adin,  in 
the  hill  ranges,  north-east  of  Damascus,  where  a  hybrid 
Aramaic,  strongly  impregnated  with  Arabic  forms  and  words, 
is  still  spoken,  though  it  is  never  written. 

Even  while,  with  an  apparently  unbroken  front,  the  Mos- 
lems were  invading  Syria  and  Palestine,  the  seeds  of  discord, 
planted  at  the  death  of  Mohammed,  were  preparing  to  ger- 
minate in  the  soil  of  Islam.  The  story  of  the  schism  which 
resulted  in  the  main  division  of  the  Moslem  world  into 
Sunnis  and  Shi'ahs  will  be  sketched  in  a  later  chapter.  It  is 
touched  on  here  simply  that  we  may  understand,  at  the  be- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  17 

ginning  of  our  study,  why  there  exist  to-day  in  Syria  two  dis- 
tinct bodies  of  Mohammedans,  bitterly  antagonistic,  the  one 
toward  the  other.  The  Syrian  Shi'ahs  go  by  the  local  name 
of  Metawileh,  Moreover,  in  consequence  of  this  schism 
were  later  developed  the  secret  religions  whose  followers  to- 
day inhabit  the  Lebanon  and  the  mountains  to  the  north, 
being  known  under  the  name  of  Druses,  Nuseiriyeh,  and 
Isma'iliyeh. 

Schism  in  Islam  was  originally  caused  by  the  question  of 
the  Caliphate,  or  the  succession  to  Mohammed.  One  party 
rallied  around  Abu  Bekr,  the  prophet's  father-in-law,  and 
the  other  around  'Ali,  his  nephew  and  the  husband  of  his 
favorite  daughter,  Fatima.  At  first  the  party  of  Abu  Bekr 
prevailed,  and  succeeded  in  electing  not  only  him  but  the 
two  succeeding  caliphs,  'Omar  and  'Othman.  'Ali,  in- 
deed, became  the  fourth  caliph,  twenty-three  years  after  the 
death  of  Mohammed,  but  the  revolt  of  the  contrary  party 
provoked  a  long  and  bloody  conflict.  'AH  was  killed.  He 
was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Hasan,  who  soon  abdicated 
in  favor  of  Mo'awiyah,  the  candidate  of  the  other  party,  and 
founder  of  the  'Omayyad  Dynasty  of  Caliphs.  In  the  con- 
flict that  continued  to  rage,  Hosein,  the  brother  of  Hasan, 
was  killed  on  the  field  of  Kerbela,  which  ever  since  has  been 
sacred  ground  to  the  Shi'ahs  or  partisans  of  the  family  of 
'Ali.  The  split  then  became  final.  The  Sunnis — the  so- 
called  Traditionalists — and  the  Shi'ahs,  thus,  agree  on  two 
caliphs  only:  'Ali  and  Hasan.  With  the  Shi'ahs  the  term 
Imamate  takes  the  place  of  the  Sunni  term  Caliphate.  The 
main  body  of  Shi'ahs  believe  in  a  hereditary  line  of  twelve 
Imams.  The  first  was  'Ali,  the  last  was  the  child  of  Hasan- 
el-' Askari,  Mohammed,  who  disappeared  from  sight  in 
878,  but  who  is  still  supposed  to  be  living  in  the  world  in 
a  disguise  which  is  revealed  only  by  exception. 

But  among  the  Shi'ahs  themselves  was  produced  a  schism 
by  this  very  question  of  the  Imamate.  On  the  death  of  this 
sixth  imam,  Ja'afar-es-Sadiq,  one  party  recognized  as  imam 
his  second  son,  Musa-el-Qasim,  while  the  other  turned  to 
Mohammed-el-Habib,  the  son  of  Ja'afar's  eldest  son,  Is- 
ma'il,  who  had  predeceased  his  father.  Hence  arose  the 


18  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

sect  of  the  Isma'iliyeh,  whose  esoteric  doctrines  were  destined 
to  wield  such  baneful  influences.  From  this  sect  was  de- 
rived the  Order  of  the  Assassins,  which  filled  Europe  with 
terror  at  the  time  of  the  Crusades.  From  his  castle  fortress 
north  of  the  mountains  of  Lebanon,  Rashid-ed-Din  Sinan, 
Grand  Prior  of  the  order  for  Syria,  known  to  the  Crusaders 
as  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains,1  sent  forth  his  white-robed 
emissaries  to  plunge  a  secret  dagger  into  the  heart  of  any 
prince  who  had  incurred  his  anger.  Under  their  generic 
name  of  Isma'iliyeh  the  descendants  of  these  Assassins  still 
live  to  the  number  of  ten  or  twenty  thousand  near  their 
old  Syrian  haunts,  sending  from  thence  a  yearly  tribute  to 
Bombay,  where  lives  the  successor  of  the  Old  Man  of 
the  Mountains. 

The  sect  known  as  Druses  separated  from  the  main  body 
of  the  Isma'iliyeh  about  the  same  time  as  the  Assassins. 
Both  sects  thus  resulted  from  a  triple  schism  in  Islam. 
The  Fatimite  Dynasty  of  Caliphs  or  Imams  was  founded 
by  the  Shi'ahs  of  Egypt  in  the  year  969  A.  D.  These  rulers 
held  themselves  to  be  incarnations  of  the  Divine  Reason. 
One  Darazi,  a  leading  missionary  of  the  Batini  section  of 
the  Isma'iliyeh,  encouraged  in  his  pretensions  to  divinity 
the  third  caliph  known  as  El-Hakim,  who  began  to  rule  in 
985.  This  extraordinary  person  appears  to  have  been  a 
mixture  of  monster  and  buffoon.  One  fancies  that  both 
Dickens  and  Stevenson  must  have  been  reading  Gibbon 
when  they  invented  Quilp  and  Captain  Teach.  Certainly 
his  mad  pranks  can  be  paralleled  only  in  fiction.2  It  is 
from  Darazi  that  the  ordinary  name  of  the  Druses  is  derived.3 
According  to  a  disputed  tradition  he  preached  the  divinity 
of  the  mad  caliph  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Wady-et-Teim 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon.  At  any  rate  this  place  was 

1  This  title  was  rightly  the  prerogative  of  the  Grand  Master  of  the 
order  living  at  Alamut,  in  the  mountains  of  Persia,  but  it  seems  to  have 
been  assumed  by  Sinan,  who  aimed  to  rival  his  superior. 

2  For  his  strange  career,  see  chap.  LVII  of  Gibbon's  "Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire." 

3  In  Arabic  "Durzi"  signifies  one;    "Druz,"   two  or  more  members 
of  this  sect. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  19 

the  cradle  of  the  Druse  cult  in  Syria.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  the  inhabitants  were  already  indoctrinated  with  the 
peculiar  vagaries  of  the  Isma'iliyeh,  which  were  wide-spread. 
This  would  account  for  their  readiness  to  swallow  the  latest 
developments.  The  Druses,  however,  who  acknowledge 
no  name  but  that  of  Unitarians,  execrate  the  memory  of 
Darazi  as  heartily  as  they  revere  the  name  of  Hamzeh, 
another  missionary  of  the  Isma'iliyeh,  who  became  influ- 
ential with  El-Hakim,  and  whom  they  claim  to  be  the 
author  of  most  of  the  one  hundred  and  eleven  treatises  con- 
tained in  the  six  volumes  that  enshrine  their  secret  doc- 
trines. There  are  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
Druses  to-day,  mostly  grouped  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
Lebanon,  and  also  in  the  Hauran,  where  they  are  in  fre- 
quent feud  with  the  Arab  tribes  and  in  frequent  revolt 
against  the  Turkish  authorities.  A  recent  rebellion  was 
"crushed"  in  the  spring  of  1911. 

The  Nuseiriyeh  in  the  mountains  north  of  the  Lebanon, 
though  strongly  impregnated  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Is- 
ma'iliyeh, claim  to  believe  in  the  twelve  imams  of  the  main 
body  of  the  Shi'ahs.  According  to  some  estimates  they 
outnumber  the  Druses;  other  guesses  would  make  them  a 
smaller  body.  Members  of  all  these  secret  religions  claim 
to  be  Moslems  when  it  suits  their  convenience,  and  repu- 
diate this  allegiance  with  equal  ease.  In  this  they  are  fol- 
lowing a  tenet  of  conformity  shared  by  all  Shi'ahs  and  ex- 
plicitly emphasized  by  the  Ismailian  teaching. 

We  have  now  accounted  for  the  origin  of  the  main  cults 
to-day  found  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  The  Samaritans,  in- 
deed, probably  represent  a  longer  unbroken  religious  tradi- 
tion, still  followed  at  the  centre  of  worship,  than  does  any 
other  cult,  but  they  are  now  reduced  to  a  mere  handful — a 
hundred  plus  or  minus.  The  Behais,  or  Babis,  represent 
the  very  last  schism  of  the  oft-split  Shi'ahs.  'Abbas  Effendi, 
their  head,  now  dwells  at  Acre  with  a  few  Persian  followers. 
But  the  Behais  have  never  sought  to  extend  their  cult  by 
propaganda  in  Syria,  which  they  entered  merely  as  exiles. 
The  main  body  of  Behais  is  still  in  Persia,  where  the  Bab, 


20  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

or  Door,  held  to  be  the  forerunner  of  Beha  Allah,  was  mar- 
tyred in  1852,  though  they  claim  that  their  converts  in  the 
United  States  and  elsewhere  are  very  numerous.  It  may 
be  noticed  in  passing  that  'Abbas  Effendi,  while  preaching 
the  divinity  of  his  late  father,  Beha  Allah  (who  died  at  Acre 
in  1892),  has  now  definitely  repudiated  the  doctrine  as  per- 
sistently applied  to  himself  by  many  of  his  followers  all  over 
the  world  "  'Abdul  Beha,"  he  says,  referring  to  himself, 
"  is  the  servant  of  the  word  of  the  Blessed  Beauty  [i.  e., 
Beha  Allah]  and  the  manifestation  of  absolute  servitude  in 
the  threshold  of  the  Lord.  He  has  no  other  station,  grade, 
class,  or  power.  The  great  Manifestation  was  fulfilled  and 
consummated  in  the  Blessed  Beauty  of  Abha,  and  his  Holi- 
ness the  Supreme  (the  great  Bab)  was  the  Herald  of  the 
Blessed  Beauty."1 

It  is  with  reluctance  that  we  omit  all  but  the  briefest 
reference  to  that  most  dramatic  episode  in  the  religious  his- 
tory of  the  Holy  Land,  the  domination  of  the  Crusaders. 
This,  however,  had  very  little  influence  on  the  subsequent 
religious  life  of  the  land,  which  is  our  thesis.  Probably  a 
certain  portion  of  the  native  Latins  or  Roman  Catholics, 
now  resident  in  Jerusalem  and  other  parts  of  Palestine,  de- 
scend from  the  Pullani  (fellahin),  or  offspring  of  the  Cru- 
saders by  the  native  women;  though  it  is  definitely  known 
that  the  ancestors  of  many  of  the  present  Latins  were  once 
Maronites.  The  lasting  influence  of  the  Crusaders  was 
social  rather  than  religious,  as  they  introduced  into  the 
Holy  Land  those  feudal  ideas  that  controlled  the  life  of  the 
Lebanon  until  the  year  I860.2 

As  it  has  been  a  political  tradition,  now  happily  on  the 
wane,  after  a  change  of  party  in  our  National  Government, 
to  make  a  clean  sweep  in  all  public  offices,  so  when  the 
Crusaders  superseded  the  Saracens  the  ecclesiastical  posi- 
tions held  by  the  Greek  Christians,  under  the  supervision  of 
their  Mohammedan  masters,  were  filled  by  Latins.  Each 
party  regarded  the  other  with  contempt.  Jacques  de  Vitry, 
consecrated  Latin  Bishop  of  Tyre  in  1217,  calls  the  Syrian 

1  See  "The  Behai  Bulletin"  (New  York),  December,  1908. 

2  See  pp.  104-108. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CULTS  21 

Orthodox  "double  dealers,  cunning  foxes,  liars,  turn-coats, 
traitors,  open  to  bribes,  deceivers,  thieves,  and  robbers."  l 
But  there  was  no  real  break  in  the  Greek  hierarchy.  Greek 
patriarchs  of  Jerusalem  and  Antioch  kept  up  the  ancient 
lines  at  Constantinople,  and  sometimes  even  attempted  to 
reside  quietly  in  their  sees.  The  last  Latin  Patriarch  of 
Antioch  was  killed  at  the  altar  by  the  Saracens  in  1268. 
We  gather  from  Jacques  de  Vitry  that  the  Greek  bishops 
continued  in  their  own  dioceses  to  wield  actual,  if  un- 
official, power  over  their  people.  "  As  for  the  Latin  prelates," 
he  writes,  "  in  whose  dioceses  they  dwell,  they  obey  them  in 
word  but  not  in  deed;  and  only  in  outward  show  they  say 
that  they  obey  them,  out  of  fear  of  their  masters  according  to 
the  flesh,  for  they  have  Greek  bishops  of  their  own  and  would 
not  fear  excommunication  or  any  other  sentence  from  the 
Latins  in  the  least  ...  for  they  say  among  themselves  that 
all  Latins  are  excommunicated,  wherefore  they  cannot  give 
sentence  on  any  one."  2  No  wonder  that  the  worried  bishop 
felt  sore  and  called  names. 

When  the  Crusaders  lost  their  final  foothold  in  Syria  in  the 
year  1292,  all  members  of  the  Greek  hierarchy  had  slipped 
back  into  their  places.  Since  then  the  ecclesiastical  changes 
have  been  chiefly  those  of  allegiance.  The  Maronites  had 
abjured  heresy  and  had  joined  themselves  to  the  Roman 
Church  in  1182.  In  consequence  of  persistent  missionary 
effort,  in  connection  with  the  Roman  Propaganda,  the  Greek 
Catholic  Melchite  Community  was  formed,  the  definite  split 
with  the  Orthodox  dating  from  1724.  The  Syrian  Catholics 
had  separated  from  the  Jacobites  some  time  before.  The 
ten  thousand  Protestants  now  numbered  among  the  native 
Christians  are  due  to  the  work  among  the  old  churches  con- 
ducted by  foreign  societies,  beginning  with  the  American 
Board  in  1821. 

iaHistoria  Hierosolymitana,"  op.  tit.,  LXXIV.  This  quotation  is 
from  the  English  translation  in  vol.  XI  of  the  "  Palestine  Pilgrims'  Text 
Series." 


22  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 


II.    INTER-RELATIONS  OF  THE  CULTS 

The  inter-relations  of  the  cults  in  Syria  and  Palestine  can 
be  better  understood  after  the  relation  of  each  to  the  Turkish 
Government  is  made  clear.  When,  in  1453,  the  first  Otto- 
man sultan,  Mahmud  II,  mounted  the  throne  of  his  Byzan- 
tine predecessors,  he  was  made  to  realize  that  the  Shari'a, 
or  Sacred  Law  of  Islam,  which  makes  no  distinction  between 
matters  civil  and  religious,  could  not  from  the  very  nature  of 
things  be  applied  in  all  its  bearings  to  the  large  numbers  of 
his  conquered  subjects  who  were  Christians.1  The  Shari'a 
implies  duties  and  privileges  which  only  the  followers  of  the 
Prophet  can  observe  and  enjoy.  Moslem  legislation  respect- 
ing marriage,  divorce,  inheritance,  etc.,  could  not  be  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  Christians.  The  Sultan  Mahmud 
had  forced  upon  him  the  alternative  of  creating  an  especial 
code  or  of  permitting  these  peoples  to  follow  their  own  regu- 
lations. The  latter  alternative  was  chosen.  In  all  cases 
where  they  could  not  be  treated  on  the  same  legal  footing 
with  the  Moslems,  Christians  were  in  the  eye  of  the  law  sep- 
arated into  groups,  according  to  the  religions  which  they 
professed.  At  first,  the  Moslem  authorities,  not  compre- 
hending the  theological  distinctions  that  kept  the  churches 
apart,  or  the  differences  in  their  rites,  confounded  all  Chris- 
tians together  as  Greek  Orthodox  or  Roum.  Little  by  little, 
however,  as  these  distinctions  came  to  be  recognized,  sepa- 
rate communities  were  formed.  Each  group  became  a  millet 
or  nation,  really  a  state  within  a  state.  A  man  was  labelled 
by  his  religion.  This  arrangement  was  solemnly  confirmed 
by  a  berat,  or  firman,  granted  to  each  patriarch  or  accredited 
head  of  the  community.  By  virtue  of  these  firmans  the 
heads  of  sects  or  nations  are  still  regarded  not  only  as  relig- 
ious but  as  civil  authorities.  At  the  episcopal  courts  certain 
civil  as  well  as  religious  cases  are  tried.  The  Greek  Ortho- 
dox first  obtained  and  have  always  enjoyed  more  extended 

1  The  authority  on  this  subject,  whom  we  closely  follow,  is  the  Count 
van  den  Steen  de  Jehay,  in  his  careful  work,  "  De  la  Situation  Le"gale  des 
Sujets  Ottomans  non-Musulmans"  (Bruxelles,  1906). 


INTER-RELATIONS  OF  THE  CULTS  23 

privileges  than  any  other  community.  The  last  of  the 
firmans  was  issued  in  favor  of  the  Jews  in  1864,  recognizing 
their  right  to  be  represented  at  the  Sublime  Porte  by  the 
Grand  Rabbi.  The  Protestants  were  organized  as  a  distinct 
body,  under  a  wakil,  or  agent,  resident  at  Constantinople,  by 
virtue  of  two  firmans  dated  1850  and  1853,  respectively. 
Alone  of  the  Christian  churches  the  Maronites  have  no 
actual  firman.  The  fact  that  ever  since  1516  they  have 
enjoyed  all  the  privileges  of  a  "nation,"  recognized  by  the 
sultans,  is  considered  to  be  sufficient.  Precedent  takes  the 
place  of  formal  authorization. 

Much  stress  is  laid  by  Western  students  of  religious  affairs 
in  Turkey  on  one  feature  of  the  Tanzimat,  or  Corpus  of 
Reforms,  provoked  by  the  Great  Powers,  beginning  with 
the  famous  Hatti  Sherif  of  Gulhane,  1839,  and  culminating 
in  the  Hatti  Houmayun  of  1856.  This  latter  is  often  called 
the  Magna  Charta  of  religious  liberties  in  Turkey,  having 
been  regarded,  at  its  issue,  to  be  a  guarantee  of  full  religious 
liberty  to  all  Turkish  subjects  of  any  creed  or  faith.  The 
Count  de  Jehay,  however,  points  out  that  it  is  a  mistake  to 
think  that  the  Tanzimat  had  fundamentally  the  aim  of  ex- 
tending the  privileges  which  had  been  granted  to  the  Chris- 
tian communities.  Indeed,  the  very  principles  of  equality  for 
all  Turkish  subjects  before  the  law,  which  they  advocated, 
logically  entailed  the  curtailing  of  certain  especial  privileges, 
not  strictly  involving  religious  questions,  which  had  been 
long  enjoyed  by  the  Greeks.  Among  other  rights  the  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople  had  full  power  to  condemn  those 
under  him  to  exile,  to  send  them  to  prison,  to  levy  taxes  with- 
out government  interference.  But  that  was  not  all.  He 
could  actually  demand  the  assistance  of  government  officials 
in  carrying  out  his  desires  by  force.  In  the  broad  interests 
of  justice  the  Hatti  Houmayun  ordained  that  each  Christian 
or  non-Mussulman  community  should  have  its  immunities 
re-examined  by  a  commission  appointed  in  its  midst.  The 
status  of  the  Greek  community  was  thus  readjusted  on  a 
basis  which  in  general  still  controls  it.  In  1879,  however,  the 
Porte  made  another  attempt  to  curtail  the  privileges  of  the 
Greek  Orthodox.  The  hierarchy  stoutly  resisted.  Two 


24  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

patriarchs  resigned,  in  1884  and  1890  respectively.  At  one 
time,  the  patriarchal  throne  being  vacant,  the  Holy  Synod 
of  Constantinople  requested  all  Greek  churches  within 
the  empire  to  close  their  doors  and  suspend  services,  as 
a  demonstration  against  the  government.  This  religious 
strike  lasted  for  a  month.  In  1891  a  modus  vivendi  was 
agreed  on.  The  patriarch  is  now  allowed  jurisdiction  in 
matters  relating  to  marriage,  divorce,  and,  with  certain 
restrictions,  to  inheritance.  No  priest  can  be  arrested  by 
the  government  except  through  the  patriarch  or  bishop,  who 
acts  as  intermediary.  A  priest  cannot  be  put  in  the  com- 
mon prison  unless  he  has  been  unfrocked,  after  having  been 
convicted  of  actual  crime. 

At  the  time  of  the  Moslem  conquest  it  was  ordained  that 
Christians  should  be  excluded  from  the  army,  but  in  lieu  of 
military  service  each  male  was  obliged  to  pay  a  poll-tax. 
Theoretically,  this  system  was  abolished  by  the  Hatti  Hou- 
mayun,  which  arranged  for  drafting  Christian  soldiers.  This 
change,  however,  was  not  carried  into  effect  until  after  the 
revolution  of  1908.  In  the  meantime  the  poll-tax  continued 
to  be  paid,  though  a  certain  change  was  made  in  the  manner 
of  imposing  it.  On  the  march  to  Constantinople  in  the 
spring  of  1909,  when  the  counter-revolution  of  'Abd-el-Hamid 
was  crushed,  for  the  first  time  Turkish  generals  led  a  mixed 
army  of  Moslems,  Christians,  and  Jews.  Since  then  soldiers 
have  been  regularly  drafted  irrespective  of  creed,  though  this 
radical  change  is  being  introduced  with  some  caution.  The 
newly  created  parliament  is  open  to  members  of  all  faiths, 
but  naturally  Moslems  greatly  preponderate. 

The  Hatti  Houmayun  granted  some  leeway  to  members 
of  the  same  non-Moslem  community  concerning  the  matters 
which  may  be  brought  before  the  especial  tribunals.  To  a 
certain  extent,  thus,  recourse  to  these  constitutes  a  right 
rather  than  an  obligation.  For  example,  should  two  members 
of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  be  about  to  go  to  law  concern- 
ing some  minor  matters  not  explicitly  declared  to  be  under  the 
exclusive  jurisdiction  of  the  patriarch,  and  should  they  have 
some  reason  for  avoiding  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  the  tri- 
bunals of  the  empire  are  open  to  them.  In  all  criminal  cases, 


INTER-RELATIONS  OF  THE  CULTS          25 

of  course,  these  government  courts  have  sole  jurisdiction. 
Also  before  them  alone  are  tried  cases  between  a  Moslem 
and  a  non-Moslem,  or  between  non-Moslems  of  different 
religious  communities. 

For  about  four  centuries  after  the  Mohammedan  conquest 
the  Turkish  courts  followed  but  one  procedure,  that  of  the 
Shari'a,  or  Sacred  Law.  During  the  reign  of  'Abd-el-Mejid, 
side  by  side  with  these  courts  were  established  a  set  of 
tribunals,  criminal,  civil,  and  commercial,  under  the  general 
name  of  'Adliyeh,  or  Courts  of  Justice,  all  closely  following 
the  Code  Napoleon.  The  development  of  his  new  system 
appears  to  have  been  slow,  but  it  was  firmly  established  in 
Jerusalem,  for  example,  about  forty  years  ago.  These 
tribunals  have  no  jurisdiction  over  matters  pertaining  to 
wills  and  minors,  which  must  be  taken  before  the  Shari'a 
court.  In  other  matters  the  accused  may  choose  before 
which  court  he  may  be  tried.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  many 
places  the  business  of  the  Shari'a  courts  is  limited  to  Moslem 
religious  affairs.  Moslems,  of  course,  try  their  best  to  have 
their  cases  with  Christians  tried  according  to  their  sacred 
law.  The  proclamation  of  the  Sultan  'Abd-el-Hamid,  in 
his  last  desperate  struggle  to  recover  his  lost  power,  con- 
tained this  phrase,  intended,  under  cover  of  its  non-committal 
diction,  to  inflame  Moslem  fanaticism:  "The  Shari'a  is  to 
be  honored!" 

The  Qadhi,  or  Moslem  religious  judge,  has  authority  over 
both  the  Shari'a  and  the  'Adlfyeh  tribunals,  except  the 
criminal  court  of  the  latter.  The  heads  of  the  'Adliyeh 
tribunals  must  always  be  Moslems,  but  the  judges  may  be 
half  Moslems  and  half  Christians.  In  Jerusalem,  where  this 
proportion  exists,  the  head-quarters  of  the  'Adliyeh  are  at 
the  Seraya,  or  Government  House,  and  those  of  the  Shari'a 
are  at  the  old  Mankamy,  or  Place  of  Judgment,  near  the 
Temple  Court. 

The  widely  circulated  statement  that  the  testimony  of  a 
Christian  as  against  a  Moslem  is  not  valid  in  Moslem  law 
is  literally  true.  It,  however,  creates  a  false  impression. 
"Testimony"  is  "shehadi,"  and  no  Christian  can  bear  she- 
hadi  against  a  Moslem.  But  shehadi  is  a  technical  term 


26  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

applying  merely  to  witness  borne  in  or  referred  to  the  Sha- 
ri'a  courts.  In  an  'Adliyeh  tribunal  any  one,  irrespective 
of  creed,  can  give  "  akhbar  "  or  "  information,"  which  is,  to 
all  intents  and  results,  witness  or  testimony.  In  the  large 
centres  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  a  Christian  is  thus  under  no 
legal  embarrassment  in  the  matter  of  testimony,  save  as  he 
is  obliged  to  enter  the  Shari'a  courts,  if  his  litigation  in- 
volves minors,  or  some  one  of  a  few  other  questions  in  which 
it  has  sole  jurisdiction.  Practically,  however,  there  are 
many  ways  in  which  a  Christian  who  has  no  backing,  can 
be  embarrassed  in  this  as  well  as  in  other  regards. 

It  is  clear  that  such  divisions  as  exist  among  the  cults 
of  Syria  and  Palestine  must  be  accentuated  by  the  official 
groupings  which  have  just  been  reviewed.  This  holds  true 
not  only  of  the  main  divisions  into  Christians,  Jews,  Mo- 
hammedans, Druses,  and  Nuseiriyeh,  but  of  the  subdivisions 
as  well.  The  relations  of  a  man  to  his  sect  being  not  only 
religious  but  secular,  he  is  never  allowed  to  forget  that  he  is 
Maronite,  Greek,  Jacobite,  or  Protestant.  The  distinction 
of  religion  is  a  controlling  force  in  political  life.  The  Leb- 
anon, for  example,  is  divided  into  districts,  each  governed 
by  a  qaimaqdm,  who  belongs  to  that  sect  which  predomi- 
nates numerically.  Thus,  in  Zahleh  the  qaimaqdm  must 
be  a  Greek  Catholic;  in  the  Kura,  Greek  Orthodox;  in  the 
Shuf,  a  Druse;  in  the  Kesrouan,  a  Maronite.  The  other 
districts  are  ruled  by  Druses  or  Maronites  according  to  the 
same  law.  A  similar  law  has  regulated  exactly  the  pro- 
portion of  minor  offices  which  each  sect  can  claim,  down  to 
the  very  position  of  sweeper  in  the  Government  House! 

The  segregation  of  cults  in  villages,  already  touched  upon, 
or  in  different  quarters  of  the  same  town,  fosters  the  sense 
of  division  which  led  to  its  adoption.  One  speaks  of  a 
Christian  village  or  a  Moslem  village.  Every  casual  trav- 
eller to  Palestine,  where  such  segregation  appears  to  be  the 
rule,  must  have  noted  that  Bethany  is  Moslem  while  Beth- 
lehem is  Christian.  Jerusalem  has  its  Christian  quarter, 
its  Moslem  quarter,  its  Jewish  quarter.  To  a  certain  ex- 
tent this  system  applies  to  the  business  section.  On  a 


INTER-RELATIONS  OF  THE  CULTS  27 

Saturday  you  may  pass  from  a  crowded  street,  where  trade 
is  brisk  at  all  the  little  shops,  to  another  street  where  all  the 
doors  are  closed:  one  is  the  street  of  the  saddlers,  who  are 
mostly  Moslems,  the  other  is  devoted  to  general  retail  trade, 
now  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews.  Even  in  "  Christian 
Street"  half  the  shops  are  closed  on  the  Jewish  "Sabbath." 
The  number  of  antagonisms  among  the  cults  of  Syria  and 
Palestine  is  bewildering.  First  we  find  Moslems  ranged 
against  each  other:  Orthodox  Sunni  bitterly  hating  Shi- 
'ah  Metawali.  Feuds  between  Nuseirfyeh  and  Isma'iliyeh 
have  been  constant.  Christians  despise  Jews.  Strife  be- 
tween Druses  and  Christians  (political  rather  than  religious), 
which  had  blazed  up  in  civil  war  in  1845  and  1860,  resulted 
in  the  complete  reconstruction  of  the  Lebanon  Government 
at  the  last-mentioned  date.  Since  then  the  mutual  relations 
have  been  peaceful.  And  finally,  the  Christian  bodies  are 
often  in  dispute  among  themselves.  But  before  glancing  at 
the  painful  details  of  these  divisions,  we  may  refer  again  to 
the  common  fund  of  superstitious  beliefs  in  which  all  share. 
That  some  of  these  have  been  inherited  from  an  ancient 
form  of  worship  antedating  them  all  has  been  already 
hinted.  Christians,  Moslems,  Jews,  and  Nuseirfyeh  visit 
each  others'  shrines.  The  Moslems  take  their  insane,  or 
"possessed,"  to  get  rid  of  their  evil  spirits  in  the  cave 
of  Saint  Anthony,  belonging  to  the  Maronite  convent  of 
Qozhayya,  in  the  Lebanon.  Christians  go  on  a  similar 
errand  to  the  well  at  the  shrine  of  Sheikh  Hasan  er-Ra'i 
(the  Shepherd)  near  Damascus.  Dr.  Curtiss  reports  in- 
stances of  Christians  who  vow  "sacrifices"  to  Moslem 
saints  turning  the  head  of  the  sheep  toward  Mecca  while 
they  kill  it.  During  the  procession  on  Good  Friday,  barren 
Moslem  women  pass  under  the  cloth  on  which  is  stamped 
the  figure  of  Christ,  in  hopes  that  they  may  bear  children. 
Christian  women  in  Hums  consult  Dervish  diviners.  The 
Nuseirfyeh  observe  Christmas,  though  they  subordinate 
Jesus  to  'Ali.  A  Greek  priest  told  me  of  a  Druse  who  re- 
cently had  his  child  carried  through  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Church  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Palm  Sunday  procession,  that, 
through  blessing  received,  he  might  not  die  as  had  all  the 


28  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

other  children.  Instances  of  Moslems  seeking  baptism  for 
their  children  as  a  sort  of  charm  have  been  reported  from 
all  parts  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  from  Es-Salt  on  the  south 
to  Ras-Ba'albek  on  the  north.  A  Mohammedan  of  Zahleh 
has  had  all  his  children  baptized,  though  the  priest  insists 
on  a  Christian  god-father.  At  Jaffa  a  Moslem  woman 
begged  a  Protestant  missionary  to  baptize  her  sick  baby. 
Learning  that  she  had  no  idea  of  rearing  it  as  a  Christian, 
he  refused,  and  she  applied  to  the  Greek  priest.  Dr.  Curtiss 
heard  of  a  Moslem's  baptism  where  the  priest  performed  the 
act  with  "maimed  rites,"  omitting  to  use  the  consecrated 
oil  of  baptism.  Baldensperger  mentions  secret  baptisms 
among  the  fellahfn,  and  ascribes  this  desire  to  the  belief  of 
the  Moslems  that  the  rite  destroys  a  certain  odor,  peculiar 
to  themselves,  which  attracts  ghosts ! 1  This  falls  in  line 
with  information  I  have  received  from  Christians.  Once, 
in  speaking  with  a  Maronite  peasant  about  the  frequent 
ablutions  of  the  Moslems,  I  remarked  on  the  fact  that  the 
Christians  have  no  such  ceremonies.  "No,"  he  replied, 
"the  Moslems  were  never  cleansed  in  baptism  as  we  are, 
and  are  always  trying  to  get  rid  of  their  natural  evil  odor 
by  washing  themselves  all  over,  but  without  success. 
Thank  God,  I  have  had  no  need  of  a  bath  since  I  was  bap- 
tized." It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  for  this  physical 
theory  of  baptism  the  Maronite  Church  cannot  be  held 
officially  responsible. 

The  relations  between  Moslems  and  Christians  varies  in 
different  centres  of  Syria  and  Palestine  according  to  the 
ratio  which  they  bear  to  each  other.  This  ratio  takes  ac- 
count of  wealth  and  influence  as  well  as  of  numbers.  In 
places  like  Beyrout,  where  the  Christians  not  only  prepon- 
derate numerically,  but  control  business,  the  Moslems  tend 
to  be  antagonistic.  In  Damascus,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Moslems,  who  form  the  bulk  of  the  well-to-do  population, 
can  afford  to  feel  friendly  toward  their  Christian  neighbors. 
Moreover,  they  have  never  forgotten  how  Moslems  were 

1  See  article,  "  Birth,  Marriage  and  Death  among  the  Fellahin  of 
Palestine,"  by  P.  J.  Baldensperger,  found  in  the  "Quarterly  Statement 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund"  for  1894,  p.  127. 


INTER-RELATIONS  OF  THE  CULTS  29 

hung  in  the  streets  for  the  massacre  of  Christians  when 
fanaticism  was  aroused  by  the  events  of  1860.  A  foreign 
resident  declared  in  my  hearing  that  the  Christians  are 
overbearing  toward  the  Moslems,  who  show  a  courteous 
demeanor.  But  even  at  best,  between  followers  of  the  two 
religions  there  runs  a  sharp  line  of  cleavage.  The  Moslems 
are  ever  conscious  that  theirs  is  the  religion  of  the  race  that 
conquered  Syria.  The  Christians  can  never  forget  that 
theirs  is  the  faith  that  was  conquered.  On  the  one  side  are 
often  found  hatred,  arrogance,  and  contempt;  on  the  other, 
hatred,  fear,  and  suspicion.  The  smouldering  embers  are 
liable  to  be  fanned  into  flame  by  any  sudden  event.  After 
months  and  years  of  apparently  peaceful  relations,  the 
murder  of  a  Moslem  by  a  Christian  or  of  a  Christian  by  a 
Moslem  may  provoke  a  series  of  reprisals,  which,  if  not 
checked  by  the  government  with  a  strong  hand,  contain 
the  possibilities  of  massacre. 

This  fundamental  antagonism  between  the  two  cults  has 
proved  to  be  not  incompatible  with  real  friendship  between 
individual  Moslems  and  Christians.  It  is  a  well-authenti- 
cated fact  that  during  periods  of  massacre  Moslems,  at  the 
risk  of  their  own  lives,  have  often  sheltered  their  Christian 
neighbors.  Good  men  of  both  religions  honor  and  respect 
one  another.  Owing  to  the  general  march  of  civilization, 
Christians  suffer  much  less  from  the  Moslem  domination  in 
Syria  than  they  did  a  hundred  years  ago.  Then  sumptu- 
ary laws  were  in  force.  As  late  as  1820  no  Christian  in 
Damascus  could  wear  anything  but  black  or  could  ride  a 
horse.1 

The  lack  of  harmony  between  the  various  Christian  sects 
is  not  only  bad  religion;  it  is  bad  policy.  From  any  point 
of  view  it  is  lamentable.  In  face  of  the  overwhelming 
strength  of  Islam  it  is  sheer  folly.  In  passing,  one  may  be 
permitted  to  note  that  the  same  criticism  applies  to  different 
Protestant  mission  bodies  working  at  cross-purposes  any- 
where in  the  world  of  Islam.  Happily,  in  this  case  such 
criticism  is  less  needed  than  formerly.  The  lines  of  cleav- 
age among  the  Syrian  churches  are  sometimes  curious  and 

1  See  "Fifty-three  Years  in  Syria,"  vol.  I,  p.  28,  by  Dr.  H.  H.  Jessup. 


30  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

puzzling.  The  antagonism  between  Orthodox  Greeks  and 
Maronites  is  natural.  The  former  repudiate,  the  latter  ac- 
cept the  papal  claims.  It  is  also  natural  for  the  Orthodox 
to  feel  bitterly  toward  the  papal  Greeks,  who,  after  a  fierce 
quarrel,  separated  from  them  in  1724.  A  century  and  a 
quarter  after  the  split,  according  to  Churchill,  "  the  Greek 
Catholic  bishop  in  Beyrout  was  violently  assaulted  at  the 
altar  by  the  Orthodox  bishop's  party,  ...  his  robes  were 
torn  from  his  back,  and  he  was  driven  ignominiously  into 
the  street."  1  But  in  some  places  the  papal  Greeks  hate 
the  papal  Maronites  more  than  they  do  their  former  Ortho- 
dox brethren.  With  the  Maronites  they  have  nothing  in 
common  but  ecclesiastical  allegiance;  with  the  Orthodox 
they  share  a  common  inheritance  of  tradition  and  ritual. 

Such  elements  of  discord  among  the  different  Christian 
sects  always  exist,  but,  it  should  be  added  with  emphasis, 
they  are  by  no  means  constantly  active.  As  Moslems  and 
Christians  may  live  side  by  side  in  harmony,  even  to  a 
greater  degree  among  the  antagonistic  Christian  bodies 
there  may  be  long  periods  of  peaceful  intercourse.  In 
the  ordinary  villages  and  towns  the  normal  relations  are 
friendly.  For  hot-beds  of  strife,  ever  threatening  to  break 
out,  or  at  best  rendering  ecclesiastical  life  an  armed  truce, 
one  must  turn  to  the  holy  places  of  Palestine. 

It  is  in  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem,  and  in 
the  Church  of  the  Anastasis,  or  Resurrection,  at  Jerusalem 
(popularly  called  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre),  that 
the  antagonism  among  Christian  bodies  develops  into  posi- 
tive scandal.  In  the  Bethlehem  church,  where  a  quarrel 
between  Greek  and  Latin  priests  precipitated  the  Crimean 
War,  Moslem  soldiers  are  always  on  guard.  A  friend  of 
mine  asked  a  Turkish  soldier  why  he  stood  exactly  in  one 
place.  "It  is  to  watch  that  nail,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the 
wall.  "The  Armenians  drove  it  in,  boasting  they  would 
hang  a  picture  on  it.  The  Greeks  threatened  to  prevent 
them.  It  is  my  business  to  stand  here  and  see  that  no  one 
touches  the  nail.  If  the  Armenians  get  at  it,  they  will  hang 

1  lc Mount  Lebanon,"  vol.  I,  p.  185,  by  Colonel  Churchill  (London, 
1853). 


INTER-RELATIONS  OF  THE  CULTS          31 

iheir  picture  and  crow  over  their  victory.  If  the  Greeks 
come  near  it,  they  will  pull  it  out  and  claim  that  they  have 
won  their  point  against  the  Armenians.  So  I  must  guard 
the  nail  till  I  am  relieved  by  another  soldier." 

Every  pilgrim  or  traveller  who  would  visit  the  alleged 
Sepulchre  of  Christ  must  pass  the  low  platform,  just  within 
the  entrance,  where  lounge  the  supercilious  Moslem  guards 
who  keep  the  keys  of  the  Anastasis.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
they  are  the  safest  custodians  that  could  be  found  in  Jeru- 
salem under  the  present  conditions.  Archdeacon  Bowling 
declares  that  the  real  proprietor  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  the 
sultan.1  I  have  heard  this  question  violently  disputed,  pro 
and  con,  by  prominent  citizens  of  Jerusalem,  Greeks  and 
Latins.  Practically,  the  different  bodies — Latins,  Greeks, 
Armenians,  and  Syrians — have  no  more  than  the  right  of 
custody  of  different  parts.  Such  an  arrangement,  which 
follows  the  minutest  regulations,  is  imperative.  Whoever 
may  be  the  actual  owner  of  the  building,  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment is  ultimately  responsible  for  its  care.  Should  the 
Latins,  Greeks,  and  Armenians  fail  to  agree  to  make  some 
needful  repairs  of  the  pavement  around  the  tabernacle  over 
the  tomb,  which  they  guard  in  common,  this  must  be  done 
at  the  expense  of  the  municipality. 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  a  dispute  between  the  Greek 
and  Franciscan  priests  as  to  the  right  to  sweep  the  steps 
leading  up  from  the  court-yard  to  the  Latin  Chapel  of  the 
Agony  of  Mary.  Members  of  both  parties  waited  for  hours 
at  the  foot  of  the  stairway  for  the  decision  of  the  Turkish 
governor  and  of  the  French  consul,  who  were  in  communi- 
cation regarding  this  weighty  matter.  Doubtless,  old  doc- 
uments were  ransacked  for  precedent.  Meanwhile,  crowds 
collected  in  the  court  and  on  the  roofs  of  the  surrounding 
buildings.  Stones  were  thrown  at  the  monks  and  priests, 
quite  likely  by  partisans  of  both  factions.  In  the  fight  that 
was  precipitated  the  Latins  got  the  worst  of  it.  Leading 
Greek  priests  and  monks,  in  whose  garments  hatchets  were 
found  concealed,  were  arrested,  tried,  and  condemned  before 

1  See  his  pamphlet,  "The  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem/'  p.  22  (London, 
1908). 


32  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

the  Turkish  courts.     Eventually  these  were  pardoned  by 
the  sultan. 

From  these  scenes  of  strife  it  is  a  relief  to  turn  to  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  social  and  religious  phenomena 
chronicled  in  history.  For  a  month,  beginning  with  July 
24,  1908,  when  the  suspended  constitution  of  1877  was  again 
proclaimed,  the  various  cults  of  the  Turkish  Empire  forgot 
their  differences  in  what  may  be  called,  without  any  exaggera- 
tion, a  prolonged  love-feast.  In  an  ecstasy  of  relief  at  de- 
liverance from  the  inhuman  autocracy  of  'Abd-el-Hamid,  the 
antagonistic  peoples  found  an  unlooked-for  bond.  As  vic- 
tims of  a  common  oppression  they  had  suffered  apart;  they 
now  came  together  as  sharers  in  a  common  joy.  Stirred  to 
its  very  bottom,  human  nature  in  Turkey  for  once  brought 
only  its  best  elements  to  the  surface.  Among  foreign  on- 
lookers, optimists  were  triumphant;  pessimists  were  for  the 
moment  silenced.  In  the  universal  shouts  of  liberty,  equal- 
ity, and  fraternity,  the  accent  was  at  first  on  fraternity.  The 
manifestations  were  too  natural  and  gay  to  be  hysterical. 
Every  one  was  simply  happy.  Speaking  generally,  this  car- 
nival of  joy  was  no  epidemic.  Rather  it  was  manifested 
by  spontaneous  outbursts  occurring  all  over  the  empire  at 
the  same  time.  At  Constantinople  people  of  all  nationalities 
fell  on  each  others'  necks  in  the  streets.  Moslems  joined 
Christians  in  decorating  the  graves  of  massacred  Armenians. 
Banners  and  draperies  were  stretched  over  the  narrow  streets 
of  the  old  town  of  Beyrout;  the  pavements  were  strewn  with 
rugs;  shops  were  temporarily  supplied  with  furniture  from 
home,  as  an  invitation  to  hospitality.  In  his  exuberance, 
one  merchant  publicly  exhibited  the  pictures  of  his  children. 
Different  districts  vied  with  each  other  in  entertaining  the 
rest  of  the  city.  Among  the  huge  crowds  there  was  nothing 
but  good-nature.  No  one  was  drunk.  Pickpockets  forgot 
their  trade.  Rowdies  became  polite.  A  knot  of  people, 
discussing  the  new  spirit  of  religious  equality  at  the  street 
corner,  would  hail  two  passers-by,  a  Greek  priest  and  a 
Moslem  sheikh,  and  make  them  kiss  each  other,  in  dramatic 
illustration  of  the  subject.  The  Moslem  roughs  of  the  old 
city,  who  had  been  in  deadly  feud  with  the  Christian  toughs 


INTER-RELATIONS  OF  THE  CULTS          33 

of  the  suburbs,  invited  their  former  enemies  to  a  feast  in 
a  public  square,  serving  them  with  their  own  hands.  In 
Jerusalem  the  Greeks  gave  an  entertainment  where  the 
patriarch  sprinkled  the  Jews  with  rose-water.  The  Arme- 
nians invited  the  whole  city  to  a  reception  at  their  convent, 
especial  attention  being  paid  to  the  Moslems.  Not  to  be 
outdone,  the  Latins  hired  the  theatre  and  offered  free  dra- 
matic exhibitions  to  the  entire  community.  Nine  months 
later,  at  a  public  meeting  at  Damascus,  orators  prophesied 
an  era  of  humanity,  justice,  and  brotherhood  in  the  Turkish 
Empire,  in  which  members  of  all  races  and  creeds  would 
dwell  together  in  harmony.  The  speeches  were  loudly  ap- 
plauded by  the  audience,  which  included  the  Turkish  gov- 
ernor, the  Orthodox  patriarch,  Jewish  rabbis,  and  Moslem 
sheikhs. 

This  meeting,  which  has  been  described  by  Mr.  James 
Creelman,1  occurred  in  the  early  summer  of  1909,  soon  after 
the  terrible  massacres  of  Armenians  at  Adana,  which  to 
the  superficial  observer  seemed  to  give  the  lie  to  the  protes- 
tations of  the  summer  before.2  It  is  manifestly  unfair  to  in- 
dict a  whole  people  for  events  happening  in  one  district.  But 
I  would  go  further  than  mere  general  statements.  To  me 
the  assertion  seems  quite  legitimate  that  the  counter-revolu- 
tion, of  which  the  massacres  formed  an  incident,  proved  that 
below  the  froth  of  the  summer's  sentiment  there  lay  some- 
thing more  solid  which  later  prevented  the  spirit  of  massacre 
from  spreading  over  a  wide  area.  After  the  events  of  Adana 
stories  were  everywhere  afloat  in  the  towns  of  Asia  Minor, 
Syria,  and  Palestine,  telling  of  orders  from  the  reactionary 
party  at  Constantinople  for  the  massacre  of  Christians, 
which  were  set  aside  by  the  authorities,  civil  or  military,  as 
the  case  might  be.  These  stories  have  been  neither  authen- 
ticated nor  disproved.  That  some  of  them  have  a  basis  in 
truth  is  morally  certain.  It  is  a  fact  that  no  more  massacres 
occurred.  But  had  the  Moslems  wanted  a  general  massacre, 
no  authority  at  that  time,  civil  or  military,  could  have  pre- 

1  See  his  article,  entitled  "After  the  Great  Massacre,"  in  Pearson's 
Magazine,  October,  1909,  p.  454  #  (New  York). 

2  Compare  with  pp.  192-3. 


34  THE  HISTORIC  SETTING 

vented  it.  The  inference  is  that  the  people  did  not  want  it. 
Why,  then,  should  we  hesitate  to  ascribe  their  reluctance  to 
memories — acting  consciously  or  unconsciously — to  mem- 
ories of  the  strange,  glad  days  when  they  declared  their 
new-born  love  for  their  Christian  neighbors?  Those,  in- 
deed, were  days  of  prophecy.  The  complete  fulfilment  may 
be  far  in  the  future,  but  surely  a  foretaste  has  been  already 
vouchsafed. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  EASTERN 
CHURCHES 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

FROM  the  point  of  view  of  their  origin,  the  Eastern 
churches  fall  under  four  categories.  In  the  first  is  the  Holy 
Orthodox  or  Greek  Church,  whose  claim  to  be  the  most 
lineal  representative  of  the  primitive  church  may  be  conceded. 
In  the  second  are  the  national  churches,  which  arose  during 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  in  protest  to  the  decisions  of  the 
Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon,  and  which  are  more  or 
less  tainted  with  the  so-called  heresies  condemned  by  those 
councils.  These  are  the  Nestorian,  Gregorian  or  Armenian, 
Coptic  or  Egyptian,  Abyssinian,  and  Old  Syrian  or  Jacobite 
Churches.1  In  the  third  category  are  such  portions  of  all  the 
above-mentioned  churches  as  have  submitted  to  the  author- 
ity of  Rome,  and  are  thus  known  as  the  Uniate,  Uniat,  or 

1  The  Nestorian  heresy  of  the  two  persons  in  Christ  was  condemned 
at  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  431  A.  D.  Its  followers  constituted  the 
Nestorian  Church.  The  Monophysite  doctrine,  which  maintained  the 
existence  of  a  single  nature  in  Christ,  was  condemned  at  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  451  A.  D.  In  consequence  of  this  the  churches  of  Syria, 
Egypt,  and  Armenia  broke  away  from  the  Orthodox  Church,  forming 
the  Jacobite,  Coptic,  and  Gregorian  National  Churches.  The  Copts, 
however,  alone  held  to  the  purely  Monophysite  view,  that  the  divinity 
and  humanity  make  up  one  compound  nature  in  Christ.  The  Gregori- 
ans,  and  later  the  Jacobites,  embraced  the  Eutychian  form  of  the  doc- 
trine that  the  divinity  constitutes  His  sole  nature.  In  the  seventh 
century,  the  Emperor  Heraclius  sought  a  common  ground  for  agreement 
between  orthodox  and  heretics  in  the  expression,  "One  divinely  human 
mode  of  working  and  willing  in  Christ. ' '  This  doctrine  became  known  as 
Monothelitism.  It  was  condemned  at  the  Third  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople in  680,  but  was  adopted  by  the  Maronite  or  National  Syrian 
Church  of  the  Lebanon. 

35 


36     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

United  bodies.  These  are  governed  by  a  local  hierarchy 
under  the  control  of  the  Papal  See,  but  preserve  almost  in- 
tact the  ritual,  discipline,  and  customs  of  the  churches  from 
which  they  have  severally  seceded.  These  churches  are  the 
Greek  Catholic  Melchite  Church,  the  Chaldean  or  United 
Nestorian  Church,  the  Armenian  Catholic,  Coptic  Catholic, 
Abyssinian  Catholic,  and  Syrian  Catholic  Churches.  In  the 
fourth  category  the  Maronite  or  the  ancient  national  church 
of  the  Lebanon  stands  alone.  Resembling  the  Uniate  bod- 
ies in  the  terms  of  its  submission  to  Rome,  it  differs  from 
these  in  being  the  only  example  of  a  heretical  national  church 
that  has  thus  submitted  in  its  entirety.  There  are  Grego- 
rian Armenians  and  United  Armenians,  Copts  and  Coptic 
Catholics,  and  so  forth  through  the  list;  there  are  no  non- 
united  Maronites.1 

In  our  present  study  we  are  concerned  with  only  five  out 
of  these  thirteen  churches,  namely,  the  Holy  Orthodox  or 
Greek  Church,  the  Greek  Catholic  Melchite  Church,  the 
Maronite  Church,  the  Old  Syrian  or  Jacobite  Church,  and 
the  Syrian  Catholic  Church.  Six  of  the  remaining  eight 
are  quite  beyond  our  geographical  pale:  the  Coptic,  the  Cop- 
tic Catholic,  the  Abyssinian,  the  Abyssinian  Catholic,  the 
Nestorian,  and  the  Chaldean  or  United  Nestorians.  Copts 
and  Abyssinians  have  a  foothold  in  Jerusalem,  and  a  share 
in  the  cult  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  but  they  are  practically 
strangers  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  In  a  somewhat  modified 
sense  the  same  holds  of  the  Armenians  and  Armenian 
Catholics.  It  is  true  that  many  thousand  Armenians,  both 
Gregorian  and  United,  are  domesticated  in  the  northern 
part  of  Syria,  but  only  as  an  overflow,  as  it  were,  of  the 
Armenians  of  Asia  Minor;  it  is  also  true  that  the  Armenian 
convent  at  Jerusalem,  with  its  resident  patriarch  accredited 
to  the  Holy  City,  is  rich  and  influential,  playing  an  important 
role  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  as 
well  as  in  the  Church  of  the  Nativity,  at  Bethlehem,  but  the 

1  This  list  of  thirteen  bodies  covers  only  the  Eastern  churches  of 
Turkey,  Egypt,  and  Abyssinia.  On  page  95  may  be  found  the  names 
of  other  ecclesiastical  bodies  following  Eastern  rites  in  Europe  and 
recognized  by  Rome. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  37 

number  of  Armenians,  Gregorian  and  United,  actually  resi- 
dent in  or  near  the  Holy  City  amounts  only  to  about  twelve 
hundred.  In  other  parts  of  the  land,  exclusive  of  the  extreme 
north,  there  may  be  found  about  four  thousand  more.  The 
picturesquely  situated  Monastery  of  B'zummar  became  a 
centre  for  the  Armenian  Catholics,  who  fled  to  the  Lebanon 
from  government  persecution  in  Aleppo  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  being  for  some  time  the  residence 
of  their  chief,  styled  the  Patriarch  of  Cilicia.1  This  digni- 
tary now  resides  at  Constantinople. 

Of  the  five  Eastern  churches  which  claim  our  attention 
in  Syria  and  Palestine  proper,  the  Maronite  is  the  strongest 
numerically,  with  about  thirty-six  per  cent  of  the  total  Chris- 
tian population  of  about  nine  hundred  thousand,  but  the 
Greek  Orthodox  Church  follows  closely  with  about  thirty- 
four  per  cent.2  The  Greek  Catholic  communion  has  less 
than  half  as  many  followers  as  the  Greek  Orthodox.  Sub- 
tracting the  Latins  or  Roman  Catholics  and  the  Protestants, 
who,  taken  together,  amount  to  several  thousand,  the  rest  of 
the  Christian  inhabitants,  amounting  to  about  five  per  cent 
of  the  whole  number,  is  divided  between  the  Jacobites  or 
Old  Syrians  and  the  Syrian  .Catholics,  with  some  nineteen 
thousand  of  the  former  and  some  twenty-four  thousand  of  the 
latter.  The  Greek  Orthodox  are  spread  all  over  Syria  and 
Palestine;  the  Greek  Catholics  are  strongest  in  Central  Syria; 
the  Maronites  are  largely  concentrated  in  the  Lebanon  and 
in  Beyrout;  while  the  Syrians  (both  Jacobite  and  Catholic) 
are  mainly  confined  to  northern  Syria. 

These  five  churches  have  many  things  in  common,  both 
among  themselves  and  with  Rome.  From  a  Protestant 
point  of  view,  these  matters  in  which  there  is  agreement 

1  See  "Mount  Lebanon,"  vol.  I,  pp.  22  and  93,  by  Colonel  Churchill 
(London,  1853).     "  The  Turkish  Empire,"  vol.  II,  p.  147,  by  R.  R.  Mad- 
den (London,  1862). 

2  These  statistics,  based  on  Baedeker's  list  (edition  of  1906),  should  be 
taken  with  caution,  as  should  all  the  greatly  varying  estimates  of  the 
population  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  their  being  no  scientific  government 
census  for  these  lands.     The  figures,  however,  probably  indicate  with 
approximate  correctness  the  relative  numerical  strength  of  the  various 
Christian  bodies* 


38     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

must  overshadow  the  points  of  difference.  In  the  same 
manner  the  divisions  of  non-episcopal  Protestantism  must 
be  a  constant  puzzle  to  Roman  Catholics,  who  must  recog- 
nize in  all  denominations  one  main  trend  of  doctrine  and 
practice.  Sharing  in  common,  among  other  things,  a  be- 
lief in  the  seven  sacraments,  these  five  Eastern  churches  all 
hold  to  baptismal  regeneration,  confession  and  absolution, 
the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  apostolic  succession,  the  three 
ecclesiastical  orders,  intercession  of  tMe  Virgin  and  the 
saints,  as  well  as  to  the  underlying  points  of  theology  proper. 
This  basic  unity  of  doctrine  and  practice  explains  the  ease 
with  which  large  bodies  from  all  the  churches  have  been 
received  into  communion  by  Rome,  with  hardly  any  altera- 
tion in  church  services  and  ecclesiastical  customs.  But, 
taken  together,  these  five  Eastern  churches  show  several 
points  of  difference  from  the  Roman  Catholic  or  Western 
church,  apparent  in  all,  though,  in  some  particulars,  dis- 
tinctly less  emphasized  in  the  united  bodies,  and  especially 
less  in  the  Maronite,  the  most  ultramontane  of  all.  These 
will  appear  clearly  in  our  detailed  treatment,  but  it  may  be 
well  to  group  together  some  of  them  in  this  introductory  note. 
Thus  we  may  specify  the  more  democratic  character  of  the 
Eastern  churches,  illustrated  in  the  non-united  bodies  by 
the  people's  part  in  the  choice  and  election  of  patriarchs 
and  bishops;  a  free  use  of  the  vernacular  in  the  church 
services,  in  contrast  with  the  general  use  of  Latin  by  the 
Romans;  the  emphasis  laid  on  the  mass  as  a  mystery,  by 
screening  the  sanctuary  and  altar  from  the  view  of  the 
people,  a  practice  common  to  all  the  Eastern  churches,  ex- 
cept the  Maronite;  the  number  and  rigidity  of  fasts  (re- 
laxed in  the  united  communions);  the  ordaining  of  married 
men  as  parish  priests;  the  wearing  of  beards  by  the  clergy; 
communion  of  the  people  in  both  kinds  and  the  confirmation 
of  infants  immediately  after  baptism,  both  practices  common 
to  all  but  the  Maronites. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  39 


I.    THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH 

That  great  branch  of  the  church  universal,  variously 
known  as  the  Orthodox,  Eastern,  or  Greek  Church,  has 
itself  many  branches.  Though  independent  in  control, 
one  of  the  other,  these  members  acknowledge  one  common 
head,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  believing  that  He  has  no 
vicar  on  earth,  and  one  common  doctrine  and  practice, 
which  indissolubly  bind  them  together.  The  fullest  form 
of  the  title  of  this  church  is:  "The  Church  of  the  Seven 
Councils,  Ecumenical,  Holy,  Catholic,  and  Apostolic." 
Claim  is  thus  officially  laid  to  the  term  Catholic.  Since  the 
separation  of  the  churches  in  the  eleventh  century,  however, 
the  Eastern  church  has  been  ordinarily  contented  with  the 
title,  "The  Holy  Orthodox  Church,"  which  distinguishes 
it  from  the  Western  church,  especially  designated  as  Cath- 
olic. When  a  member  of  the  Orthodox  Church  in  Syria 
to-day  speaks  of  a  Catholic,  he  uses  the  term  as  equiva- 
lent to  papal.  Nor  is  the  Eastern  choice  of  a  badge  with- 
out vital  significance.  The  Orthodox  Church  is  one  as  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  is  one,  but  with  a  different  bond 
of  unity.  With  the  latter  this  bond  is  expressed,  in  the  last 
analysis,  by  a  personal  loyalty  to  the  Pope  of  Rome;  with 
the  former  it  is  expressed  by  an  impersonal  loyalty  to  ortho- 
doxy, as  laid  down  by  the  Ecumenical  Councils,  represent- 
ing the  different  branches  of  the  whole  church.  Greek 
theologians  hold  that  since  the  last  of  the  seven  great 
councils,  the  term  ecumenical  can  no  longer  be  applied 
technically  to  the  councils  of  the  church,  but  from  time  to 
time  such  general  assemblies  may  be  summoned  under  the 
name  of  local  councils.  The  last  was  called  in  1872  by 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  to  settle  the  status  of  the 
Bulgarian  church,  delegates  being  present  from  all  branches 
of  the  Orthodox  Church,  except  that  of  Russia,  which,  as 
an  interested  party,  had  no  representation.1 

The  points  of  belief  and  practice,  which  essentially  differ- 

1  This  reason  was  assigned  to  me  by  a  prominent  ecclesiastic  of  the 
Jerusalem  Monastery. 


40     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

entiate  the  Orthodox  communion  from  the  papal,  were  in 
1895  summed  up  as  follows  by  Anthimus,  then  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople:  (1)  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  from 
the  Father  alone.  (2)  The  necessity  for  triple  immersion 
in  baptism.  (3)  The  use  of  leavened  bread  in  the  mass,  as 
over  against  the  azyma,  or  unleavened  bread.  (4)  The 
form  of  the  epiclesis,  or  invocation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
the  worshippers  and  upon  the  sacramental  gifts.  (5)  Com- 
munion of  the  people  in  both  kinds.  (6)  The  denial  of 
indulgence  and  purgatory,  though  disbelief  in  the  latter  is 
held  to  be  consistent  with  prayers  for  the  dead.1 

It  is  a  fundamental  axiom  of  the  Orthodox  Church,  in- 
herited from  the  Byzantine  Empire,  that  wherever  there  is 
an  independent  state,  there  also  must  be  an  independent 
church.  Thus,  as  far  as  Greek  orthodoxy  is  concerned, 
temporal  and  spiritual  authority  have  the  same  geographical 
limits.  While  coextensive,  they  are  not  necessarily  coin- 
cident, hence  an  autonomous  Greek  church  can  exist  in  an 
autonomous  Moslem  state.2  As  a  corollary  to  this  general 
proposition,  whenever  a  given  country  becomes  independent 
the  Orthodox  Church  within  its  borders  should  become  not 
only  self-governing,  but  autocephalous:  that  is,  having  the 
right  to  elect  its  chief  or  the  members  of  the  synod  which 
directs  it  without  the  necessity  of  obtaining  confirmation  of 
the  election  from  any  other  patriarch  or  synod.  At  the 
present  day  the  one  hundred  million  members  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Church  are  grouped  in  at  least  fifteen  of  these  auto- 
cephalous churches.  In  the  following  list  the  dates  indi- 
cate the  year  when  the  independence  of  a  given  church  was 
either  claimed  or  acknowledged.  From  a  study  of  these 
dates  it  will  be  at  once  apparent  that  many  of  these  churches 
owe  their  independence  to  the  comparatively  recent  lopping 
off  of  territory  from  European  Turkey.  In  some  cases  the 
independence  of  the  church  is  almost  synchronous  with  that 

1  This  list  is  found  in  an  encyclical  and  synodical  letter,  dated  1895, 
addressed  to  clergy  and  people.     Quoted  by  Comte  de  Jehay,  "De  la 
Situation  Legale  des  Sujets  Ottomans  non-Musulmans,"  p.  91. 

2  The  state  religion  of  Turkey  is  Islam,  but  the  sultan  claims  a  certain 
control  of  all  the  churches.     Compare  with  page  43. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  41 

of  the  state;  in  others,  the  full  independence  of  the  church 
in  relation  to  the  See  of  Constantinople  follows  after  a 
longer  or  a  shorter  interval.  Thus  the  supremacy  of  the 
Holy  Synod  of  Belgrade  over  the  Servian  church  followed 
almost  immediately  on  the  recognition  of  the  independence 
of  the  kingdom  at  the  Congress  of  Berlin.  On  the  other 
hand,  though  Greece  achieved  independence  in  1833,  the 
independence  of  the  Church  of  Greece  was  not  recognized 
by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  till  1850.  In  the  fol- 
lowing list,  the  fifteen  self-governing  branches  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Church  are  placed  in  order  of  acknowledged  rank.1 

(1)  The  Ecumenical  Church,  which  has  for  its  chief  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople.     (381  A.  D.)     The  extent  of 
his  jurisdiction,  past  and  present,  is  referred  to  later. 

(2)  The  Patriarchate  of  Alexandria.     (About  67  A.  D.) 

(3)  The  Patriarchate  of  Antioch.     (53  A.  D.) 

(4)  The  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem.     (451  A.  D.) 

(5)  The  Church  of  Russia.     This  body,  consisting  of 
some  ninety  million  communicants,  is  now  directed  by  the 
Most  Holy  Governing  Synod,  which  sits  at  Saint  Peters- 
burg.    The  independence  of  this  church  dates  from  1589, 
with  the  universal  recognition  of  the  patriarchate,  which, 
however,  lasted  only  until  1700,  when  Peter  the  Great  re- 
placed it  by  the  synod.     The  organization  of  this  body  re- 
mains  unchanged,    with   a   membership   of   bishops   and 
priests  appointed  by  the  czar,  under  the  presidency  of  the 
Metropolitan  of  Saint  Petersburg.     The  function  of  the 
high  procurator,  a  layman,  who  sits  with  the  body,  is  to 
secure  a  conformity  between  the  ecclesiastical  decisions  and 
the  laws  of  the  empire. 

(6)  The  Metropolitan  Church  of  Cyprus.     (431  A.  D.) 
This  church  still  stoutly  asserts  its  independence,  estab- 
lished at  the  Council  of  Ephesus.     In  1900,  when  it  was 
impossible  for  the  synod  to  agree  on  the  election  of  a  metro- 
politan archbishop,  the  offer  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople to  nominate  the  candidate  was  refused  as  militating 
against  autocephalous  rights.2 

1  See  the  work  of  de  Jehay,  op.  dt.,  p.  82. 

2  See  de  Jehay,  op.  dt.,  p.  142. 


42     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

(7)  The  Church  of  Greece,  directed  by  the  Holy  Synod 
of  Athens.     (1850;  but  see  above.) 

(8)  The  Archbishopric  of  Mount  Sinai.     (About  1775 
A.  D.)     The  archbishop  receives  consecration   from   the 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  but  claims  independence  over  this 
Convent  in  the  Desert,  constituting  what  is  probably  the 
smallest  church  in  the  world.    This  claim  is  recognized  by 
Russia,  but  not  by  Constantinople;1  but  theologians  who 
acknowledge  it  give  Sinai  the  eighth  rank. 

(9)  The  Church  of  Servia,  governed  by  the  Holy  Synod 
of  Belgrade.     (1879  A.  D.) 

(10)  The  Church  of  Roumania,  governed  by  the  Holy 
Synod  of  Bucharest.     (1885.) 

(11)  The  Church  of  Montenegro,  whose  head  is  the  Vla- 
dika  or  Chief  Bishop,  of  Cettigne.     (1766.) 

(12)  The  Patriarchate  of  Karlowitz,  in  Croatia-Slavonia, 
Hungary.     (Founded  in  1743;  re-established  in  1848.) 

(13)  The   Metropolitan    Church    of   Hermannstadt,   in 
Transylvania,  Austro-Hungary.     (1868.) 

(14)  The  Metropolitan  Church  of  Cernowitz,  capital  of 
Bukowina,  Austro-Hungary.     (1873.) 

(15)  The  Bulgarian  Church,  whose  head  is  called  Exarch. 
The  imperial  firman  granting  the  Bulgarians  a  right  to  pos- 
sess their  own  exarchate  independent  of  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  was  issued  in  1870.     This  right  was  natu- 
rally contested  by  the  patriarch,  as  long  as  Turkey  continued 
to  have  a  shadow  of  authority  in  Bulgaria.     The  continued 
residence  of  the  exarch  in  Constantinople,  since  the  complete 
independence  of  the  kingdom,  is  merely  in   the  interests 
of  the  large  number  of  members  of  the  Bulgarian  church 
who  live  in  Macedonia. 

To  these  fifteen  churches  should  now  be  added  the 
churches  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,2  which  indeed  have 
been  practically  independent  since  the  Congress  of  Berlin, 
although  not  formally  annexed  to  Austria  till  the  autumn 
of  1908.  When  any  one  of  the  autocephalous  churches 


2  It  may  be  noted  that  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  seldom  gives 
up  his  control  without  protest  and  struggle. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  43 

elects  a  new  head,  "  letters  of  peace,"  to  announce  his  elec- 
tion, are  sent  to  the  heads  of  all  the  other  churches. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  the  above  list  of  autocephalous 
churches,  that  the  first  four— namely,  the  Ecumenical  Church 
under  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  and  the  Patriarchates 
of  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem — are  all  in  the  Turk- 
ish Empire,  for  in  theory  Egypt  is  still  a  dependancy  of 
Turkey.  Thus  the  general  rule  of  ecclesiastical  government 
in  the  Orthodox  Church,  according  to  which  temporal  and 
spiritual  jurisdiction  have  the  same  geographical  limits,  is 
so  far  modified  in  the  Turkish  Empire  that  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority  is  divided  among  four  independent  branches. 
The  reasons  for  this  exception,  having  their  roots  in  primitive 
church  history,  do  not  concern  us  here.  Independent  though 
they  be,  the  four  patriarchates  have  two  central  points  of 
contact:  one  in  the  person  of  the  sultan  of  the  empire,  who 
in  a  manner  inherits  the  ecclesiastical  prerogatives  of  his 
Byzantine  predecessors,  and  without  whose  final  sanction  no 
patriarch  may  be  enthroned;1  the  other  in  the  holy  places  of 
Palestine,  which  belong  to  the  whole  church  as  found  in  the 
empire,  and  the  control  of  which  is  shared  by  all  the  patri- 
archs. This  complete  independence  of  the  four  sees  is  not 
generally  recognized  by  the  outside  world,  or  even  by  many 
Western  scholars,  who  maintain  that  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople exercises  supreme  authority  over  the  Greek 
Church  throughout  the  empire.  Thus  in  his  recent  history, 
Adeney  states  that  when  Constantinople  came  under  Turk- 
ish rule  the  patriarch  "  was  set  over  all  the  Orthodox  Chris- 
tians in  the  Ottoman  Empire,  including  those  of  the  three 
other  Patriarchates  of  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  and  Alexandria."2 

1  De  Jehay  (op.  cit.)  asserts  that  Mohammed  II  assumed  not  only  the 
right  of  investiture  but  also  employed  the  very  Greek  formula  used  by 
the  Byzantine  emperors,  though  this  included  the  phrase  "The  Holy 
Trinity  that  has  given  me  the  empire!"  (p.  90).  On  page  52  we  give 
an  illustration  of  imperial  power,  whereby  a  Greek  ecclesiastic  was  exiled 
for  refusing  to  recognize  a  patriarch  confirmed  by  the  sultan.  All 
patriarchs  must  be  Turkish  subjects. 

2 "  The  Greek  and  Eastern  Churches,"  by  W.  F.  Adeney,  "  Internation- 
al Theological  Library,"  1908,  foot-note  1  to  p.  312.  The  author  in  an 


44     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Again  referring  to  Silbernagl  as  authority,  he  calls  the  pres- 
ent ecumenical  patriarch  "  the  spiritual  head  of  the  whole 
Orthodox  Church  (sic)  and  the  secular  head  of  the  Greek 
Church  in  the  Turkish  dominions." 1  Adeney  acknowl- 
edges the  present  rights  of  the  Patriarchs  of  Antioch  and 
Jerusalem  to  choose  their  own  patriarchs  without  reference 
to  the  Ecumenical  Church,  but  adds  that  "  the  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria  is  still  subject  to  the  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople." 3  Similar  generalizations  are  made  by  Tozer.3 

Such  a  view  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople over  the  other  three,  mistaken  though  it  is,  rises 
not  unnaturally  from  the  misinterpretation  of  certain  facts. 
The  title  Ecumenical  is  itself  misleading.  It  seems  to  have 
misled  the  Turks  themselves.  Since  the  taking  of  Constan- 
tinople in  1453,  the  resident  patriarch  has  been  regarded 
as  head  of  the  Orthodox  in  Turkey,  by  the  government, 
which  has  attributed  to  him  the  title  of  Millet-Bassi,  or  Chief 
of  the  (Greek)  Nation.4  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  is  supreme 
over  by  far  the  larger  part  of  the  empire.  His  see  to-day 
includes  Asia  Minor,  the  ^Egean  Isles,  Crete,  and  all  of 
European  Turkey,  though  in  portions  where  the  sultan  has 
but  nominal  sway,  the  sway  of  the  patriarch  is  also  but  nom- 
inal. Subject  to  him  there  are  eighty-eight  metropolitans 
and  bishops  (not  including  suffragans),  over  against  forty- 
two  in  the  combined  Patriarchates  of  Antioch,  Alexandria, 
and  Jerusalem,  most  of  the  prelates  of  the  last-named  see 
being  merely  titular.  Moreover,  his  see  to-day  is  materially 
shrunken  from  its  former  proportions.  In  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  it  also  included  Greece,  Bulgaria,  Servia,  and 
Roumania,  then  parts  of  the  empire.  Supremacy  over  the 
Russian  Church,  which  had  lasted,  with  ever-lessening  grip, 
for  six  centuries,  came  to  an  end  formally  only  with  the 
establishment  of  the  Russian  Patriarchate  in  1587.  In  the 

earlier  chapter  (p.  136),  dealing  with  patristic  times,  states  that  "in 
the  last  resort  each  patriarch  is  independent  in  his  own  sphere." 

1  Ibid.,  p.  336.  2  Ibid.,  p.  337. 

3  "The  Cnurch  and  the  Eastern  Empire,"  p.  47,  by  H.  F.  Tozer 
(1904). 

*  For  the  significance  of  this  title  see  page  46. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  45 

palrny  days  of  the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople,  those  of 
Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt  were,  by  comparison,  mere 
country  parishes.  But  apart  from  geographical  extent  this 
patriarchate  has  always  enjoyed  many  evident  advantages 
over  the  other  three.  While  these  latter  fell  under  the  blight- 
ing influences  of  Islam  from  its  earliest  days,  Constantinople, 
the  seat  of  the  former,  remained  the  capital  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire  till  1453,  whence  a  certain  imperial  glamour  has 
never  ceased  to  hang  about  the  Ecumenical  Church.  It  was 
in  Constantinople  that  the  Patriarchs  of  Antioch  and  Jerusa- 
lem found  exile  when  their  thrones  were  usurped  by  Latin 
prelates,  and  in  Constantinople  were  their  lines  kept  up 
for  over  a  century  and  a  half  of  crusading  domination  in  their 
own  sees.  In  the  imperial  city  they  were  under  the  wing, 
as  it  were,  of  the  Ecumenical  patriarch,  until  he,  in  his  turn, 
was  temporarily  forced  from  his  throne  by  the  establishment 
of  the  Latin  Empire,  which  lasted  from  1204  to  1261.  For 
more  than  two  centuries  previous  to  1843  the  Patriarchs  of 
Jerusalem  were  usually  resident  at  Constantinople,  thus 
acknowledging  it  to  be  the  practical  centre  for  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  Because  of  his  nearness  to  the  imperial  throne  the 
Ecumenical  patriarch  has  often  acted  as  intermediary  be- 
tween the  sultan  and  the  other  patriarchs.  From  their 
brother  at  Constantinople  these  prelates  to  this  day,  under 
normal  conditions,1  receive  the  chrismatic  oil.  In  com- 
paratively recent  times  (from  1724  to  1850)  the  Patriarchate 
of  the  Holy  Synod  of  Antioch,  at  Damascus,  by  reason  of 
internal  weakness  delegated  the  election  of  its  own  patri- 
archs to  the  Holy  Synod  of  Constantinople.  To  the  outside 
world,  such  voluntary  delegating  of  inherent  rights  might 
well  appear  to  be  an  acknowledgment  of  superior  control. 
In  view  of  what  has  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  general  misappre- 
hension of  a  somewhat  delicate  matter — namely,  the  inter- 
relations of  the  four  patriarchs — application  was  made  to 
the  Bureau  of  the  Patriarchate  of  Alexandria  for  official 
answers  to  a  number  of  questions  covering  the  points  at 

1  During  the  recent  dispute  between  the  Sees  of  Antioch  and  Con- 
stantinople, the  former  received  the  chrism  from  the  chief  metropolitan 
of  the  Russian  Church. 


46     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

issue.  These  questions  of  mine  with  the  answers  are  given 
fully  in  the  Appendix,  but  it  may  be  well  here  to  present  the 
gist  thereof,  even  at  the  risk  of  some  repetition  of  facts 
already  stated.1 

The  four  Patriarchates  of  Constantinople,  Antioch,  Jeru- 
salem, and  Alexandria  are  equal  and  independent  in  ad- 
ministration one  of  the  other,  although  they  share  one 
doctrine,  that  of  orthodoxy,  and  are  governed  by  the  same 
rules,  those  of  the  Ecumenical  Councils.  Whenever  it  is 
evident  that,  in  any  one  of  the  sister  churches,  the  orthodox 
doctrine  or  the  rules  of  the  whole  church  are  imperilled, 
every  other  church  has,  of  itself,  the  right  to  interfere.  Each 
patriarchate  has  the  right  to  communicate  with  the  govern- 
ment at  Constantinople,  either  by  direct  correspondence 
or,  mediately,  through  such  representatives  as  it  may  have 
at  Constantinople.  The  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  may 
act  as  intermediary  between  the  other  patriarchs  and  the 
government,  but  never  without  their  direct  request.  In  the 
same  way  the  Ecumenical  patriarch  may  intervene  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  other  patriarchates,  but  only  at  their 
especial  invitation.  Should  such  intervention  appear  to  prej- 
udice their  recognized  privileges  it  would  be  refused.  The 
title  of  Ecumenical,  bestowed  on  the  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, for  local  reasons,  in  the  year  588  A.  D.,2  and  enjoyed 
by  all  his  successors,  carries  with  it  no  especial  privileges; 
this  patriarch  being,  relative  to  the  other  patriarchs,  as 
well  as  to  all  bishops  not  immediately  subject  to  the  throne 
of  Constantinople,  merely  Primus  inter  pares.  The  title 
"  Millet-Bassi,"  or  Chief  of  the  (Greek)  Nation,3  attributed 
to  him  since  the  Turkish  conquest  of  Constantinople,  gives 
him  no  spiritual  domination  over  the  members  of  the  com- 
munity in  the  other  patriarchates,  which  are  in  every  way 
independent  of  the  See  of  Constantinople.  The  Ecumenical 
patriarch  distributes  the  holy  chrism  to  the  other  patriarchs 
for  two  reasons,  both  purely  practical,  and  in  no  way  involv- 

1  See  Appendix,  where  questions  and  answers  are  given  in  French. 

2  The  title  was  assumed  by  John  IV  in  summoning  a  synod  to  settle 
the  affairs  of  the  Church  of  Antioch.    Adeney,  op.  tit.,  p.  140. 

3  See  page  44. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  47 

ing  the  idea  of  supremacy;  first,  its  preparation  is  extremely 
costly,  and,  second,  this  ceremony  requires  the  presence  of 
at  least  twelve  prelates,  the  assembling  together  of  whom  is 
often  a  difficult  matter  in  any  one  of  the  other  patriarchates, 
where  the  entire  number  of  prelates  is  smaller.  The  reason 
why  all  the  patriarchs  share  the  right  to  control  the  affairs 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  Jersualem,  is  that  the  holy  places 
and  the  shrines  of  pilgrimage  constitute  properties  belong- 
ing to  the  entire  nation  of  Greek  Orthodox,  said  proper- 
ties having  but  one  agent,  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  whose  chief  is  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and 
whose  principal  mission  is  to  guard  the  holy  places,  and 
to  keep  them  in  a  good  and  secure  condition,  by  means  of 
the  offerings  of  Orthodox  pilgrims,  and  of  all  other  con- 
tributors. 

Attention  may  be  called  to  a  few  points  in  the  above 
authoritative  statements,  as  they  may  serve  to  explain  the 
misapprehension  that  has  arisen  in  regard  to  the  relative 
position  of  the  Ecumenical  patriarch.  In  the  first  place  it 
becomes  clear  that  the  title  of  "  Millet-Bassi,"  or  Chief  of  the 
Nation,  attributed  to  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  in- 
dicates a  point  of  view  from  which  the  government  regards 
this  functionary,  and  not  the  point  of  view  from  which  he 
is  regarded  by  his  fellow-patriarchs.  During  the  first  years 
of  Turkish  rule  in  Constantinople,  all  the  Christian  sects 
(Greeks,  Armenians,  Syrians,  etc.)  were  confounded  under 
the  general  title  of  Roumi  (Greek),  being,  from'  the  govern- 
ment point  of  view,  submitted  to  the  Orthodox  patriarch. 
Moreover,  the  government  point  of  view  has  become  purely 
theoretic,  for,  as  shown  above,  the  sultan  now  treats  with 
each  patriarchate  directly,  unless  the  friendly  offices  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  has  been  sought  for  practical 
reasons.1  No  better  proof  could  be  adduced  concerning  the 
difference  between  the  points  of  view  of  the  sultan  and  the 
church  itself  than  the  status  quo  of  the  Patriarchs  of  Antioch 
and  Jerusalem  in  the  year  1909;  both  these  patriarchs  were 

1  For  about  two  centuries  previous  to  1843  the  sultan's  firman  con- 
firming the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  was  transmitted  through  the  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople. 


48     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

recognized  by  the  sultan's  government,  though,  for  two  en- 
tirely different  reasons,  they  were  not  recognized  by  the 
Ecumenical  patriarch.  Another  illustration  of  this  difference 
of  point  of  view  is  furnished  by  the  split  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  which  led  to  the  establishment  of 
the  two  lines  of  patriarchs,  existing  ever  since,  each  claiming 
to  be  Greek  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  one  Orthodox,  the  other 
Catholic.  For  over  one  hundred  years  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment ignored  the  division,  treating  members  of  both  churches 
as  belonging  to  one  communion  and  recognizing  only  the 
Orthodox  patriarch. 

The  second  statement  calling  for  notice  is  as  follows: 
"Whenever  it  is  evident  that,  in  any  one  of  the  sister 
churches,  orthodox  doctrine  or  the  rules  of  the  whole 
church  are  imperilled,  every  other  church  has  of  itself  the 
right  to  interfere."  In  case  of  such  interference  being 
attempted,  it  is  evident  that  friction  might  easily  be  caused 
by  a  difference  of  opinion  between  the  church  criticised  and 
the  church  criticising  as  to  what  constitutes  a  menace  to 
orthodox  doctrine  or  practice.  Such  friction  would  natu- 
rally be  exaggerated  if  the  interference  came  from  that 
patriarch  who  enjoys  the  title  primus  inter  pares,  and  who 
resides  in  the  imperial  city.  Ambitious  motives  might 
be  attributed.  It  is  conceivable  that  they  might  be  enter- 
tained. An  assertion  of  supremacy  would  be  suspected. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  it  often  has  been  suspected.  In  the  re- 
cent contest  for  the  possession  of  the  Patriarchate  of  Antioch 
(to  be  detailed  later),  between  the  native  Syrian  and  the 
so-called  Ionian  or  foreign  elements,  the  former  bitterly  ac- 
cused the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  of  an  unwarrantable 
attempt  to  usurp  authority  in  the  internal  affairs  of  a  sister 
patriarchate.  "We  will  have  no  pope  to  rule  over  us!" 
cried  the  excited  Damascenes.  "Nothing  can  control  us 
but  a  General  Council!"  Leaders  of  the  Ionian  faction 
vehemently  deny  this  charge.  One  of  these,  himself  a  prel- 
ate of  the  See  of  Alexandria,  declared  to  me  that  "never, 
never,  never,"  had  the  Ecumenical  patriarch  attempted  such 
arbitrary  interference  in  any  one  of  the  sister  patriarchates : 
he  was  the  first  to  make  war  against  the  idea  of  the  papacy; 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  49 

so  he  would  be  the  last  to  claim  it  for  himself.1  If  the 
Damascenes  accused  the  present  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople of  the  attempt  to  usurp  authority  over  their  affairs, 
they  misunderstood  a  merely  kindly  warning.  "In  no 
sense,"  added  this  prelate,  "can  the  Ecumenical  patriarch 
be  called  the  head  of  the  Orthodox  Church  in  Turkey." 
Speaking  to  me  in  the  same  line,  a  member  of  the  Holy 
Synod  of  Jerusalem  confirmed  the  statement  that  the  title 
"ecumenical"  signifies  no  more  than  a  theoretic  difference. 
The  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  is  independent  in  internal 
matters,  but  should  he  be  called  upon  to  make  an  important 
decision  concerning  the  faith  he  must  consult  with  the  other 
patriarchs.  Finally,  among  the  official  statements,  we 
may  note  still  one  other,  which  suggests  that  conditions 
might  arise  appearing  to  justify  an  outsider  in  ascribing 
a  certain  supremacy  to  the  Ecumenical  patriarch:  namely, 
the  statement  that  all  four  patriarchs  share  in  the  control 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  other  shrines  of  Palestine.  As- 
sertion of  his  rights  in  this  matter  might  easily  be  misinter- 
preted, not  only  by  outsiders,  but  even  by  the  Orthodox  in 
the  See  of  Jerusalem.  The  recent  quarrel  in  that  see,  to 
be  touched  on  later,  had  some  of  its  roots  in  these  very 
conditions. 

The  hierarchy  of  the  Greek  Church  includes  the  three 
main  orders  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons.  Theoretically 
the  metropolitan  (who  corresponds  to  a  Western  archbishop) 
is  the  bishop  of  the  chief  city  of  a  district,  with  supervision 
over  the  other  bishops  therein,  but  under  the  present  strait- 
ened conditions  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  grades  is  merely  a  matter  of  title,  not  only  in 
the  Greek,  but  in  all  the  churches.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 


1  It  would  appear,  however,  that  before  the  papal  claims  were  defi- 
nitely made,  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  had  entertained  similar 
ambitions.  "In  the  year  550  Justinian  conferred  on  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  the  privilege  of  receiving  appeals  from  the  other  patri- 
archs. By  this  time,  backed  by  the  power  of  the  autocrat,  the  bishop 
of  the  chief  city  of  the  empire  was  threatening  to  become  a  veritable 
pope,  in  our  later  sense  of  the  title."  (See  Adeney,  op.  tit.,  p.  139.) 


50     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

members  of  both  grades  are  commonly  referred  to  in  Arabic 
as  mutarin'  (singular:  mutran',  the  equivalent  for  metro- 
politan), the  term  is'qof  (ordinary  bishop)  being  rarely 
heard.  The  patriarch,  on  the  other  hand,  is  in  a  very  real 
sense  chief  bishop  of  all,  exercising  supreme  supervision 
and  discipline  over  his  see.  The  first  chapter  has  touched 
on  conditions  in  the  Turkish  Empire  by  reason  of  which 
the  power  of  the  prelates  of  the  different  churches  has  been 
differentiated  from  those  pertaining  to  corresponding  offices 
in  the  Western  church.  The  differences  may  be  here 
summed  up  by  the  statement  that  the  patriarch  is  the  civil 
as  well  as  the  religious  head  of  his  flock  throughout  the  see, 
and  that  the  bishops,  subject  to  him,  occupy  similar  rela- 
tions to  their  own  dioceses.  The  patriarch  is  assisted  in  his 
duties  by  the  Holy  Synod,  a  clerical  body  whose  constitu- 
tion differs  in  the  several  sees.  Thus  the  Holy  Synod  of 
Jerusalem  includes  the  patriarch,  nine  metropolitans,  ten 
archimandrites,1  and  an  archdeacon.2  The  Holy  Synod  of 
Antioch  consists  solely  of  all  the  bishops.  The  Holy  Synod 
of  Constantinople  has  only  twelve  members,  though  the 
number  of  bishops  of  the  see  amounts  to  eighty-eight.  Ac- 
cording to  de  Jehay,3  the  Holy  Synod  of  Alexandria,  con- 
sisting of  four  metropolitans,  exists  only  in  name,  but  I 
found  it  in  session  in  the  summer  of  1909.  At  Constanti- 
nople certain  church  affairs  are  also  regulated  by  a  mixed 
assembly,  clerical  and  lay.  A  similar  body  exists  at  Alex- 
andria, at  least  in  theory,  and  demands  for  the  creation  of 
one  at  Jerusalem,  formulated  by  the  Syrian  or  National 
party,  were  granted  in  1910. 

The  rules  governing  the  election  of  patriarchs  differ  in  the 
four  sees.  In  our  present  work  we  are  especially  concerned 
with  those  of  Antioch  and  Jerusalem.  However,  as  the 


1  A  title  of  honor  given  a  priest  occupying  a  prominent  administrative 
position,  as  head  of  school  or  monastery,  and  corresponding  in  a  general 
way  to  the  title  of  canon. 

2  See  "The  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem,"  p.  12,  by  Archdeacon  Dowling. 
(London,  1908). 

3  See  "  De  la  Situation  Le*gale  des  Sujets  Ottomans  non-Musulmans, 
par  le  comte  F.  van  den  Steen  de  Jehay,"  p.  129  ff.  (Bruxelles,  1906). 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  51 

democratic  spirit  of  the  Greek  Church  has  a  better  illustra- 
tion in  the  election  of  the  patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and 
of  Alexandria,  we  may  briefly  touch  on  these  also.  In  the 
electoral  assembly  at  Constantinople  the  lay  element  is 
decidedly  preponderant.  While  the  clerical  voters  range 
from  twelve  to  twenty  members  only,  the  laymen  should 
number  seventy-three  and  represent  a  great  variety  of  in- 
terests.1 Final  confirmation  of  the  election  must  be  re- 
ceived from  the  Porte.  For  centuries  after  the  Turkish 
occupation,  most  of  the  patriarchs  of  Alexandria  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  but  the  present 
incumbent  was  elected  in  a  truly  democratic  fashion.  The 
present  procedure  is  as  follows:  In  the  cathedral  church 
there  meet  delegates  from  all  over  Egypt,  chosen  as  their 
representatives  by  members  of  the  various  trades  and  profes- 
sions, who  nominate  an  indefinite  number  of  clergy.  The 
list  of  names,  thus  chosen,  is  then  transmitted  to  Constan- 
tinople for  revision  by  the  Porte,  representing  the  suzerain 
power,  and  then  is  sent  back  for  confirmation  by  the  khedive, 
who  may  create  further  delay  while  he  consults  with  the 
Porte.  From  this  revised  list  the  electors  then  choose  three 
names,  which  are  submitted  to  the  above-named  authorities 
as  before.  Finally,  from  this  trio  of  names  one  man  is 
elected.  At  the  election  of  the  present  patriarch,  Photios, 
by  an  overwhelming  majority,  there  were  one  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  electors,  including  two  bishops  and  many  priests, 
the  rest  being  laymen.  His  beatitude  is  one  of  the  promi- 

1  The  constitution  of  the  Electoral  Assembly  at  Constantinople  is  as 
follows: 

I.  Clerical  members.     1.  The  twelve  members  of  the  Holy  Synod. 
2.  The  Metropolitan  of  Heraclius,  who  may  be  a  member  of  the  Holy 
Synod.     3.  Other  metropolitans  who  may  be  found  in  the  capital. 

II.  Lay  members.     1.  The  three  highest  dignitaries  of  the  patri- 
archate.    2.  The  eight  lay  members  of  the  Mixed  Council.     3.  Eight 
state  functionaries,  civil  and  military.     4.  The  governor  of  Samos  or 
his  representative.     5.  Three  representatives  from  the  Danubian  prin- 
cipalities.    6.  The  four  most  distinguished  men  of  learning :  as  doctors, 
lawyers,   professors,   etc.     7.  Seven  merchants.     8.  One   banker.     9. 
Ten  representatives  of  the  most  esteemed  corporations.     10.  Two  dele- 
gates from  the  parishes  of  the  capital  and  the  Bosphorus.     11.  Twenty- 
eight  delegates  from  the  provinces.     (See  de  Jehay,  pp.  99-100.) 


52     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

nent  figures  in  the  Eastern  church  to-day.  Still  of  imposing 
and  erect  carriage,  with  a  rare  combination  of  dignity  and 
charm,  he  has  a  stormy  and  romantic  past  behind  him. 
He  was  elected  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  in  1882,  while  still 
only  archimandrite,1  but  failing  to  receive  imperial  confir- 
mation, he  rightly  refused  to  recognize  the  rival  patriarch, 
elected  and  enthroned  over  his  head,  until  his  own  resig- 
nation should  be  accepted.  The  refusal  of  the  government 
and  his  quiet  persistence  in  holding  to  the  validity  of  his 
election  produced  a  deadlock,  which  was  terminated  by  the 
decision  of  the  Porte  to  exile  him  to  the  monastery-fortress 
of  Saint  Catherine.  Here,  among  the  desolate  rocks  of 
Sinai,  he  studied  Russian  that  he  might  be  able  to  preach 
to  the  pilgrims  in  their  own  tongue.  It  was  the  privilege 
of  Rendel  Harris  and  myself  to  observe  the  magic  effect  of 
his  eloquence  upon  the  rapt  and  awed  faces  of  the  simple 
peasants,  whom  he  welcomed  to  the  Chapel  of  the  Burning 
Bush.  At  Sinai,  too,  we  heard  him  read  the  Eucharistic 
discourse  of  our  Lord  in  the  sonorous  Greek,  as  well  as 
passages  from  the  great  tragedians.  When  his  "captivity 
was  turned,"  in  consequence  of  the  election  of  a  new  patri- 
arch, friendly  to  himself,  he  resumed  his  position  of  secre- 
tary to  the  Jerusalem  monastery.  At  the  time  of  his  elec- 
tion as  Patriarch  of  Alexandria,  he  was  Bishop  of  Nazareth, 
but  in  the  meantime  he  had  once  more  been  an  unsuccessful 
candidate  for  the  throne  of  Jerusalem.  His  full  title  is: 
"  The  most  Blessed  Pope  and  Patriarch  of  the  great  city  of 
Alexandria,  Lybia,  and  Pentapolis,  Ethiopia  and  all  the  Land 
of  Egypt." 

The  Rev.  Henry  Fanshawe  Tozer2  speaks  of  the  Orthodox 
Church  of  Alexandria  as  "  practically  extinct."  A  statis- 
tical table  prepared  by  my  request  at  the  secretary's  office 
of  the  Patriarchate  of  Alexandria  suggests  a  more  optimistic 
view.  The  population  is  acknowledged  to  be  floating,  and, 

1  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  his  famous  namesake,  Photios,  was  a  lay- 
man when  appointed  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  857,  but  in  a  few 
days  passed  through  the  orders  which  led  up  to  the  patriarchate. 

2  See  "The  Church  and  the  Eastern  Empire,"  p.  82,  a  volume  of  the 
series  entitled  "Epochs  of  Church  History." 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  53 

in  absence  of  a  census,  impossible  to  estimate  with  full  ac- 
curacy; but  the  compiler  suggests  one  hundred  thousand  as 
a  fair  estimate  of  the  Orthodox  in  the  see,  including  three 
thousand  in  Khartum.  Of  this  total  number  about  one- 
tenth  are  Arabic-speaking  Syrians,  the  rest  being  of  Hel- 
lenic origin.1  The  Episcopal  sees  are  eight,  five  of  which 
had  bishops  in  1908.  The  list  of  towns  or  villages  where 
churches  exist  shows  a  total  of  thirty-three.  In  fourteen 
of  these  there  are  schools.  At  the  patriarchate  in  the  city 
of  Alexandria  there  is  a  printing-press,  from  which  are 
issued  two  theological  periodicals,  one  monthly  and  one 
weekly.  The  former  is  called  'E/e/eX^ao-Tt/eo'?  <£a/3o<?. 

Since  1875  the  election  to  the  throne  of  Jerusalem  fol- 
lows, theoretically  at  least,  a  fixed  order  of  procedure.2 
Before  this  date  much  irregularity  prevailed.  From  the 
time  of  the  Patriarch  Theophanes  (1608-1641)  up  to  1843, 
the  Patriarchs  of  Jerusalem  were  non-resident,  occupying  a 
palace  in  the  Phanar,  on  the  Golden  Horn,  at  Constantinople. 
It  became  the  custom  for  each  patriarch  to  designate  a  suc- 
cessor during  his  active  lifetime,  subject  to  the  approval  of 
that  powerful  organization,  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre — of  which  he  was  president,  and  whose  head- 
quarters were  then  at  Constantinople — and  apparently 
without  reference  to  the  Holy  Synod  of  Jerusalem  as  such, 
whose  canonical  rights  were  thus  passed  over.  The  Ecu- 
menical patriarch  had  no  part  in  the  election,  but  through 
him  the  Porte  transmitted  the  firman  confirming  each  new 
patriarch.  This  state  of  affairs  lasted  till  the  death  of  the 
Patriarch  Athanasius,  in  1843,  which  was  followed  by  a 
bitter  ecclesiastical  dispute,  involving  the  retirement  of  the 
appointed  successor,  and  resulting  in  the  election  of  one 


1  The  native  Egyptian  church  is  the  Coptic,  with  a  patriarch  resident 
at  Cairo.     The  Greek  Catholic  (United  Greek)  community  of  Egypt  is 
under  the  charge  of  a  patriarch,  resident  at  Damascus,  who  since  1838 
has  borne  the  triple  title  of  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  Alexandria,  and 
Jerusalem.     Occasionally  he  resides  in  Egypt. 

2  It  is  one  of  the  complaints  of  the  native  Syrians  to-day  that  their 
rights  of  representation  at  the  patriarchal  election,  recognized  in  1875, 
are  practically  ignored.     Compare  with  note  to  page  70. 


54     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Cyril  directly  by  the  Holy  Synod  of  Jerusalem,  which  thus 
reassumed  its  lawful  prerogatives.  After  this  the  patriarchs 
once  more  resided  in  Jerusalem,  though  for  some  time  each 
continued  to  nominate  his  successor,  subject  to  the  confir- 
mation of  the  Holy  Synod.1  The  regulations  of  1875  are 
in  substance  as  follows: 

On  the  death  of  the  patriarch  the  Holy  Synod  elects  a 
locum  tenens,  called  a  Qaimaqam.  He  sends  letters  to  the 
heads  of  the  monasteries  in  all  parts  of  the  see,  bidding 
them  notify  the  people  to  send  to  Jerusalem  as  their  repre- 
sentatives a  certain  number  of  married  priests.  These  as- 
semble at  the  Holy  City,  and  with  the  members  of  the  Holy 
Synod,  together  with  such  archimandrites2  as  may  be  found 
present,  nominate  by  written  ballot  an  indefinite  number 
of  candidates.  These  names  are  transmitted  to  the  Porte 
through  the  local  government.  When  the  revised  list  is  re- 
turned, the  assembly  reunites,  and,  by  a  majority  of  votes, 
chooses  the  three  most  eligible  candidates.  Then,  follow- 
ing an  ancient  custom,  the  members  of  the  Holy  Synod, 
who  are  the  sole  electors  in  this  final  stage,  enter  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and,  by  closed  ballot,  but  in  the 
presence  of  the  people,  choose  one.  Before  the  patriarch- 
elect  can  be  enthroned,  imperial  confirmation  is  necessary, 
as  in  the  case  of  all  patriarchal  sees.  According  to  the 
canon  governing  the  election  of  bishops,  this  should  be 
made  by  vote  of  laymen  and  clergy.  It  is  one  of  the  com- 
plaints of  the  Syrians  to-day  that  the  people  are  no  longer 
given  a  voice  in  the  matter.  Of  the  eighteen  metropolitans 
and  bishops  of  the  see,  only  three  ordinarily  reside  in  their 
dioceses:  the  Metropolitan  of  Nazareth  and  the  Bishops  of 
Bethlehem  and  Ptolemais  (Acre).  Of  the  rest,  many  are 
now  only  titular;  but  the  people  are  demanding  that  such 
bishops  as  have  a  flock  should  become  resident.3 

The  full  official  title  of  the  patriarch  is:    "The  most 

1  For  a  detailed  account  of  this  matter  see  "The  Holy  City,"  vol.  II, 
pp.  541  ff.,  by  George  Williams  (London,  1849). 

2  This  would  include  the  priests  belonging  to  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
Holy  Selpuchre,  all  of  whom  have  this  title. 

3  For  a  list  of  the  dioceses,  see  Appendix. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  55 

Blessed  and  Holy  Patriarch  of  the  Holy  City  Jerusalem, 
and  all  Palestine,  Syria,  Arabia  beyond  Jordan,  Cana  of 
Galilee,  and  Holy  Zion."  The  present  patriarchate  extends 
from  Egypt  on  the  south  to  the  diocese  of  Acre  on  the  north 
(which  it  includes):  from  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west 
to  the  desert  on  the  east.  Widely  differing  estimates  are 
made  of  the  number  of  the  Orthodox  in  the  see,  from  sixteen 
thousand,  quoted  in  Baedeker,  to  sixty  thousand  or  sixty- 
five  thousand,  made  by  a  leading  Orthodox  citizen  of  Jerusa- 
lem. The  figures  of  the  Count  de  Jehay  agree  closely  with 
the  larger  estimate.1  The  Orthodox  of  the  Holy  City  num- 
ber four  or  five  thousand.  These  different  estimates  of  the 
population  may  be  compared  with  the  careful  statement 
(approximate  but  tabulated  by  towns  and  villages)  issued,  by 
the  command  of  the  patriarch,  in  1838,  which  gives  sixteen 
thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety  souls  for  the  whole  see  and 
six  hundred  souls  for  the  Holy  City.2  Allowing  for  the  nor- 
mal increase  in  population,  we  judge  that  the  higher  estimate 
of  the  present  population  of  the  whole  see  is  probably  nearer 
the  mark  than  the  lower.  The  increase  in  the  number  of 
Orthodox  resident  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  itself  is  striking. 
Besides  common  schools  in  Jerusalem  and  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  see,  the  Greek  Church  maintains  a  large 
boarding-school  for  boys  (now  almost  exclusively  Ionian  or 
foreign  Greeks)  within  the  walls,  and  a  theological  training- 
school,  with  preparatory  department,  at  the  ancient  Con- 
vent of  the  Cross,  one  and  one-half  miles  to  the  west  of  the 
city.  Syrians,  with  but  one  or  two  exceptions,  are  excluded 
from  the  theological  course,  which  is  open  to  Hellenic  stu- 
dents from  all  parts  of  Turkey,  Greece,  and  Cyprus,  who 
usually  return  to  their  native  districts.  The  college  has  its 
library  and  museum.  Archdeacon  Dowling  gives  the  num- 
ber of  students  for  1908  as  thirty-five;3  in  1909  I  was  told 
that  they  numbered  sixty.  The  Greek  ecclesiastics  main- 
tain a  city  hospital  with  accommodation  for  forty  beds.  In 

1  See  his  work,  op.  tit.,  p.  141. 

2  See  Williams's  "The  Holy  City,"  vol.  I,  pp.  490-495. 

3  See  his  pamphlet,  "The  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem,"  op.  tit.,  pp. 
19-20.    Other  interesting  particulars  are  given. 


56     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

the  patriarchate  is  a  printing-press  from  which  liturgical 
publications  are  issued.  A  Greek  theological  magazine 
called  "Ne'a  2«»i>"  ("The  New  Zion"),  which  began  to  ap- 
pear in  January,  1904,  as  a  bimonthly,  is  now  issued 
monthly.  To  the  great  Monastery  of  Constantine,  which 
dominates  the  Greek  Church  in  Palestine,  we  shall  refer 
later. 

The  Patriarchate  of  Antioch  includes  the  Diocese  of  Sidon 
and  Tyre  on  the  south,  and  that  of  Adana  on  the  north; 
extending  from  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west  to  Diabekr  on 
the  east.  It  includes  both  the  Lebanon  and  the  Hauran. 
The  present  patriarch  informed  me  that  he  would  estimate 
the  number  of  his  flock  at  about  four  hundred  thousand. 
This  is  not  far  from  the  estimate  of  the  Imperial  Russian 
Society  quoted  by  de  Jehay,1  but  is  far  in  excess  of  some  other 
estimates,  also  quoted  by  him.  The  residence  of  the  patri- 
arch, who  is  ex  officio  Metropolitan  of  Antioch  with  episcopal 
jurisdiction  over  the  city  of  Damascus,  has  been  in  the  latter 
city  since  1531,  when  Antioch  was  ruined  by  earthquake. 
Of  the  sixteen  bishops,  who  alone  constitute  the  Holy  Synod, 
fourteen  are  resident  in  their  sees.  The  Bishops  of  Edessa 
and  Eironopolis,  being  in  partibus,  should  reside  at  Damas- 
cus, but  these  posts  are  now  vacant.  At  present  all  the  bish- 
ops are  called  by  courtesy  metropolitans.2  The  election  of 
the  patriarchs  has  not  followed  officially  recognized  rules,  but 
recently  proposals  have  been  submitted  to  the  Porte  for  con- 
firmation, asking  that  the  electoral  body  shall  consist  of  all 
the  bishops,  the  laity  to  be  represented  by  three  electors  from 
the  city  of  Antioch,  eight  from  Damascus,  and  three  from  its 
Faubourg  of  the  Midan:  all  thus  being  from  the  episcopal 
diocese  of  the  patriarch.  In  the  election  of  bishops  the 
synod  alone  has  the  voting  power,  but  the  laity  of  a  given 
diocese  are  often  in  practical  control.  A  few  years  ago  the 
Orthodox  inhabitants  of  Beyrout  insisted  on  the  sole  nomina- 
tion of  their  candidate  (the  present  bishop)  instead  of  the 
canonical  three,  thus  creating  a  deadlock  between  themselves 

1  See  his  work,  op.  tit.,  p.  133.     This  estimate  is  356,000. 

2  This  I  have  from  one  of  their  number.     For  a  list  of  the  dioceses 
see  Appendix. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  57 

and  the  electoral  body  of  bishops.  The  people  boycotted 
the  churches  and  threatened  to  secede  to  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion. The  resident  chaplain  of  the  Anglican  bishop  in 
Jerusalem  refused  to  receive  the  dissidents  as  a  body,  but 
while  leaving  them  to  settle  their  dispute  he  proffered  his 
friendly  offices  in  the  general  interests  of  peace.  The  dead- 
lock was  finally  relieved  by  the  agreement  of  the  synod  to 
recognize  the  nomination  of  two  dummies;  thus  the  canoni- 
cal demands  were  satisfied  while  the  people  secured  the 
election  of  their  admirable  candidate,  whose  popularity  has 
been  amply  justified  by  a  wise  and  brilliant  administration. 
He  has  begun  the  construction  of  a  large  building  which  is 
destined  to  be  a  college.  At  present  the  Greeks  of  Syria 
have  no  university,  but  almost  forty  per  cent  of  the  students 
of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  are  Orthodox,  including 
near  relations  of  the  Patriarchs  of  Antioch  and  Alexandria. 
There  are  Orthodox  high-schools  at  Hums,  Tripoli,  and 
Damascus,  the  last  being  under  the  direct  control  of  the 
laity.  Many  of  the  common  schools  in  the  see  were  estab- 
lished and  are  conducted  by  the  Imperial  Russian  Society  of 
Palestine,  of  which  we  speak  later.  The  theological  college 
is  at  the  Monastery  of  Bellament  (Belmont),  in  the  district 
of  the  Kura,  some  twelve  miles  inland  from  Tripoli.  This 
was  opened  by  the  abbott,  in  the  early  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  for  the  higher  education  of  the  Syrian  youth,  in 
secular  as  well  as  theological  studies,  but  was  closed  by  the 
Ionian  Patriarch  Methodius  (died  1850)  as  part  of  his  anti- 
National  programme.1  It  was  reopened  as  a  training-school 
for  Syrian  aspirants  to  higher  clerical  rank,  as  archiman- 
drites or  bishops,  by  Malatios,  the  first  Arab  patriarch  of 
Antioch  in  modern  times,  who  was  enthroned  in  1899.  The 
school  is  financed  by  the  patriarch,  who  sends  as  many  pupils 
as  he  pleases,  while  the  bishops  may  nominate  one  or  two 
boys  each.  The  clerical  graduates  remaining  unmarried 
cannot  hear  confessions  after  ordination.  The  course  covers 
six  years,  including  theology,  church  history,  exegesis,  and 
philosophy.  All  teachers  are  native  Syrians,  but  not  neces- 
sarily in  holy  orders. 

1  See  pages  64  ff. 


58     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

It  is  the  rule  that  the  Orthodox  parish  priests  of  Syria  and 
Palestine  should  be  married  before  ordination  to  the  diaco- 
nate,  marriage  after  ordination  being  uncanonical.  A  sec- 
ond marriage  is  prohibited.  A  bishop  must  be  a  celibate 
at  the  time  of  his  ordination,  but  he  may  be  a  widower.  The 
case  has  been  known  of  a  patriarch  who  was  later  succeeded 
in  office  by  his  legitimate  son.  As  the  service  books  are  all 
translated  into  Arabic,  the  parish  priests  do  not  require  a 
knowledge  of  Greek,  except  for  a  few  words  and  phrases  of 
peculiar  sanctity.  As  a  rule  they  have  little  education  be- 
yond the  most  elementary.  The  priest  of  a  given  parish  is 
often  chosen  from  the  same  family  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion, the  office  being  thus  quasi-hereditary.  This  tendency 
is  said  to  militate  against  an  educated  priesthood,  especially 
in  the  rural  districts.  The  hair  is  not  cut:  when  mass  is 
celebrated  and  during  some  other  services  it  hangs  down  over 
the  shoulders;  ordinarily  it  remains  coiled  up  under  the 
headdress,  which  resembles  a  college  cap  with  enormously 
elongated  cylindrical  base.  The  soutane,  or  cassock,  is  of  a 
dark  color,  but  not  necessarily  black.  With  exceptions  to  be 
noted,  the  parish  priests  have  no  regular  salary,  but  are  paid 
out  of  the  funds  of  the  Church,  a  sum  ranging  (in  the  town 
churches)  from  twenty  to  eighty-two  cents  for  each  mass  said 
on  Sunday  or  on  a  feast-day.  Daily  mass  is  almost  unknown 
except  in  the  cathedral  churches.1  In  addition  there  are  the 
prices  of  masses  for  the  dead  and  fees  for  baptisms,  mar- 
riages, funerals,  etc.  In  Jerusalem  the  parish  priests  have  a 
fixed  salary  of  twelve  dollars  a  month  (three  napoleons),  paid 
by  the  convent,  besides  their  ordinary  fees  for  baptisms,  etc. 

In  some  of  the  Orthodox  cathedral  towns  of  the  East, 
where  there  are  a  number  of  churches,  there  obtains  a  regular 
circuit  system,  not  unlike  that  of  the  Methodists,  only  more 
localized.  This  is  not  recognized  by  the  canons,  but  is  mere 
custom,  obtaining,  however,  in  places  as  widely  separated  as 
Alexandria,  Jerusalem,  Beyrout,  Hums,  and  Constantinople. 
It  is  not  practised  in  Latakia,  which  has  five  Orthodox 
churches,  nor  yet  in  Mersine,  both  cathedral  towns.  The 

1In  the  Cathedral  Church  at  Alexandria  there  is  no  daily  mass. 
Daily  mass  is  said  in  the  Great  Convent  at  Jerusalem. 


THE  ORTHODOX  CHURCH  59 

system  has  different  modifications  at  different  centres,  but 
is  everywhere  based  on  a  common  democratic  principle, 
which  recognizes  the  parity  of  the  parish  clergy  and  their 
common  right  to  share  the  ecclesiastical  emoluments  of  a 
given  city.  In  Beyrout,  for  example,  there  are  nine  priests 
and  nine  churches,  including  eight  "parish"  churches  and 
the  cathedral  Church  of  Saint  George.  In  the  vicinity  of 
each  church  lives  a  married  priest,  who  during  the  week 
attends  to  the  general  duties  of  the  "  parish,"  hearing  con- 
fessions, visiting  the  congregation,  sprinkling  the  houses 
with  holy  water  monthly,  conducting  baptisms,  marriages, 
funerals,  etc.  He  has,  however,  Sunday  duty  in  his  own 
church  but  one  Sunday  out  of  ten.  According  to  the  rules 
of  the  circuit  he  says  Sunday  mass  in  a  different  parish 
church  for  eight  weeks,  coming  on  the  ninth  Sunday  to  the 
cathedral  church,  where  he  begins  his  duties  with  high  mass, 
for  which  he  receives  an  especial  fee.  For  a  week,  then,  he 
is  called  Master  of  the  Circuit  (Sa'hib  ed  Dowr)  or  Master  of 
the  Week  (Sa'hib  ej  Jim'a:  Greek,  E^/iepto?),  receiving 
a  fixed  salary  of  two  Turkish  dollars  (about  $1.65)  for  say- 
ing daily  mass.  He  has  the  right  to  demand  a  Turkish 
dollar  for  every  funeral  or  church  wedding  which  he  at- 
tends during  that  week  in  any  part  of  the  entire  city,  or  to 
demand  a  quarter  of  that  sum  in  case  he  remains  absent. 
On  the  second  Sunday,  after  saying  early  mass  in  the 
cathedral  church,  he  gives  place  to  his  successor,  who  in 
turn  becomes  Master  of  the  Week.  The  tenth  week  is  a  sort 
of  vacation  for  the  retiring  priest.1  This  system  appears  in 
some  cases  to  affect  the  solidarity  of  the  parishes.  The 
priest  resident  at  Ras-Beyrout  tells  me  that  in  no  strict  sense 
has  his  church  a  people,  his  "  parishioners"  feeling  at  liberty 
to  attend  mass  anywhere.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
Orthodox  point  to  the  origin  of  this  circuit  in  the  "  order  of 
the  course"  of  priestly  service,  which  Zacharias  fulfilled.2 

1  The  exact  carrying  out  of  this  system  at  Beyrout  would  appear  to 
require  ten  priests.     In  Hums,  where  a  similar  system  obtains,  there  are 
only  four  churches  with  the  cathedral,  while  the  number  of  priests  is 
seven.     In  this  city  it  would  appear  that  each  priest  would  remain 
periodically  without  duty. 

2  The  word  in  Luke  1 :  58  is 


60     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

The  Arabic  word  for  deacon  is  shemmas'.  The  Ortho- 
dox Church  in  Syria  recognizes,  theoretically  at  least,  four 
grades  in  the  diaconate:  archdeacon,  deacon,  subdeacon, 
and  anagnost,  or  reader.  Practically,  however,  the  term 
archdeacon  is  hardly  more  than  titular,  and  the  minor  or- 
ders are  rarely  filled.  The  only  Greek  archdeacon  that  I 
ever  heard  of  is  Cleophas  Kikilides,  the  learned  librarian  of 
the  Convent  of  Jerusalem.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Holy 
Synod,  although  not  in  priest's  orders.  For  it  is  to  be  noted 
that,  unlike  the  Anglican  archdeacon,  the  Greek  dignitary 
is  but  the  chief  of  the  deacons.  The  office  of  the  mass  con- 
tains a  full  service  for  the  deacon,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  this 
is  generally  taken  by  the  priest  or  omitted.  There  is  no 
deacon  definitely  attached  to  the  Beyrout  Cathedral  even. 
The  diaconate  is  merely  a  stepping-stone  to  priestly  ordina- 
tion, which  requires  no  definitely  prescribed  interval  between 
itself  and  the  previous  admission  to  deacon's  orders.  Dur- 
ing the  actual  interval,  the  deacon  may  attend  on  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese.  With  the  bishop  there  are  usually  also  a 
certain  number  of  celibate  deacons  who  are  looking  forward 
to  becoming  archimandrites  or  bishops.  A  deacon  must 
marry  before  ordination  or  remain  celibate.  The  single 
canon  that  would  appear  to  sanction  the  contrary  has  never 
been  put  in  practice.  In  a  later  section  will  appear  the 
contrasting  conditions  of  the  diaconate  in  general  in  the 
Syrian  Church,  where  all  grades  play  an  important  and 
practical  part  in  the  life  of  the  church. 

II.    THE  RECENT  NATIONAL  MOVEMENT  IN  THE 
ORTHODOX  CHURCH 

A  traveller,  interested  in  the  Greek  Church,  passing  from 
the  Patriarchate  of  Antioch  to  the  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem 
to-day,  would  be  sensible  of  a  sudden  change  of  ecclesiastical 
atmosphere.  In  the  former  see  he  would  find  a  truly  na- 
tional church,  with  native  Syrian  clergy,  including  patriarch 
and  bishops,  all  speaking  the  Arabic  language  as  a  mother- 
tongue.  Especially  noticeable  would  be  the  scarcity  of 
monks,  so  few  that  he  might  not  meet  a  single  individual. 
In  the  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem,  however,  while  he  would 
find  native  Syrian  parish  priests,  he  would  at  once  learn 


RECENT  MOVEMENT  IN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH   61 

that  these  are  dominated  by  prelates  of  an  alien  race.  This 
Ionian  control  would  confront  him  most  vividly  in  the  Pa- 
triarchal Palace,  the  Great  Convent,  and  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Here,  indeed,  he  might  find  Syrians, 
but  only  among  the  worshippers.  As  he  wandered  over 
the  bewildering  congeries  of  courts  that  form  the  convent, 
swarming  with  priests  and  monks,  he  would  hear  spoken 
nothing  but  Greek,  except  when,  with  a  marked  foreign 
accent,  an  order  was  addressed  to  an  Arab  servant.  Our 
stranger  would  emphatically  get  the  idea  of  a  Greek  Church, 
Greek  in  language  as  well  as  in  control.  Had  the  date  of 
his  visit  fallen  in  1909,  he  would  have  found  all  the  parish 
churches  closed,  and  might  even  have  chanced  on  a  native 
Syrian  priest  holding  a  service,  with  a  few  followers,  in  the 
cemetery. 

In  order  to  understand  these  contrasting  conditions,  we 
must  study  for  a  moment  the  origin  of  the  famous  monastic 
Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  which  at  present 
dominates  the  Greek  Church  in  Jerusalem,  and  which  has 
only  recently  lost  control  of  the  Greek  Church  in  the  Patri- 
archate of  Antioch.  According  to  ecclesiastical  tradition, 
the  establishment  of  the  brotherhood  which  has  for  its 
chief  function  the  care  of  the  holy  places  of  Palestine,  dates 
from  the  erection  of  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection,  by 
order  of  Constantine,  early  in  the  fourth  century.  It,  how- 
ever, represented  a  development  from  an  earlier  monastic 
order,  originating  in  very  early  days  at  Csesarea.  By  the 
year  494  A.  D.  its  members  were  everywhere  recognized  by 
the  name  STTOV&UCM,  or  Zealots.  The  organization  under 
the  present  rules  dates  from  the  Patriarchate  of  Dositheus, 
which  began  in  the  year  1662.  According  to  these  rules, 
the  patriarch,  who  is  ex  officio  president  of  the  brotherhood, 
must  be  chosen  from  the  members;  custom  has  also  re- 
stricted the  choice  of  bishops  to  members  of  the  order,  who 
must  be  Ionian  Greeks — that  is,  Greeks  in  race  and  language 
though  Turkish  subjects.1  At  the  present  time,  native 
Syrians  are  refused  membership,  but  for  about  one  hundred 

aMany  members  of  the  order  who  are  merely  in  priest's  orders  bear  the 
honorary  title  of  Archimandrite.  The  only  Syrian  archimandrite  is  res- 
ident in  the  monastery  at  Tiberias. 


62     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

and  fifty  years  after  the  enthronement  of  Dositheus  this  ex- 
clusion did  not  extend  to  Syrians  from  the  Patriarchate  of 
Antioch,  two  at  least  of  whom  rose  to  the  dignity  of  Patri- 
arch of  Jerusalem.  The  local  natives,  however,  whose 
grievances  have  been  summed  up  in  a  fiery  tract,1  date  their 
exclusion  from  the  brotherhood,  and  thus  practically  from 
the  possibility  of  attaining  episcopal  rank,  as  far  back  as 
the  Patriarchate  of  Germanus,  which  began  in  1534,  the 
year  of  the  inception  of  the  Order  of  the  Jesuits.  Up  to  the 
time  of  the  enthronement  of  this  Peloponnesian  monk,  so  they 
maintain  by  a  somewhat  naive  historical  argument,  all  pa- 
triarchs, bishops,  priests,  and  monks  had  been  natives  of  the 
see.  Thus,  from  primitive  times  genuine  natives  of  Pales- 
tine had  been  the  lawful  custodians  of  the  holy  places. 
After  the  Arab  occupation,  their  rights  were  confirmed  by 
the  famous  Covenant  of  'Omar,  preserved  to  this  day  in  the 
dependancy  of  the  Jerusalem  Convent  at  Constantinople. 
These  rights,  temporarily  in  abeyance  during  the  crusading 
period,  were  severally  confirmed,  and  always  to  the  native 
church,  by  the  Eyyubite  and  Mameluke  dynasties,  and 
finally  by  the  Turkish  conquerors.  With  the  usurpation  of 
authority  by  Germanus,  as  the  native  Orthodox  deem  it, 
the  church  of  Jerusalem  lost  its  natural  independence  and 
self-control.  During  a  patriarchate  of  forty-five  years,  he 
filled  up  all  the  episcopal  sees  with  his  fellow  Grecians. 
With  the  independence  of  the  native  Syrians  went  their 
guardianship  of  the  holy  places.  This  loss  of  legitimate 
control,  so  goes  on  the  native  argument,  logically  involved 
the  further  division  of  the  holy  places,  which  soon  followed, 
among  Latins,  Armenians,  and  other  foreigners,  for  the 
original  Greek  usurpers  were  themselves  foreigners!  At- 
tempts, they  say,  have  been  made  by  the  lonians  to  prove 
that  from  the  beginnings  of  Christianity  the  Orthodox  of 


£  UJt 

(Historical  Glance  at  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.)  This 
was  issued  in  1893  under  the  pseudonym  of  Sheikh  'Abd-el-Ahad-esh- 
Shafi,  which  covered  a  composite  authorship.  It  was  brought  down  to 
date  and  reprinted  in  1909. 


RECENT  MOVEMENT  IN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH   63 

Palestine  were  all  of  their  race,  but  they  themselves  help  to 
disprove  their  own  argument  by  excluding  the  native  Syrians 
of  to-day  from  the  brotherhood,  thus  acknowledging  them- 
selves to  be  aliens.  This  confession,  so  triumphantly  add 
the  native  apologists,  is  clearly  involved  in  one  of  the  prayers 
of  the  Order  in  commemoration  of  the  patriarchs,  which 
begins  with  the  name  of  Germanus,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
line  of  Arab  patriarchs  who  went  before.  The  motives 
assigned  for  this  usurpation  is  a  greedy  desire  to  hold  the 
purse-strings  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  annual  income, 
estimated  by  the  native  party  at  over  a  million  Turkish 
dollars,1  accrues  from  the  gifts  of  pilgrims,  as  well  as  from 
the  dependencies  of  the  convent  at  Constantinople,  Moscow, 
Smyrna,  Athens,  Crete,  etc.  The  accounts  are  open  to  no 
one  but  the  monks.  The  income  is  not  used  for  the  good 
of  the  native  Syrians  of  the  see.  Charity  is  withheld  from  the 
native  poor,  while  the  monks  themselves  become  rich. 
Syrians  are  debarred  from  a  higher  education.  The  school 
at  the  Convent  of  the  Cross  was  established  in  1845,  chiefly 
for  the  Ionian  students,  euphemistically  called  nephews  of 
the  monks,  who  alone  are  allowed  to  take  the  theological 
course,  the  natives  being  confined  to  the  preparatory  stud- 
ies. Common  schools  have  been  opened  and  again  closed. 
Were  it  not  for  the  foreign  schools  no  native  Orthodox 
child  would  be  able  to  read  or  write  in  his  own  language. 
It  was  to  defend  the  pilgrims  against  the  Ionian  monks  that 
the  Imperial  Society  of  Russia  was  formed.  Previously 
they  had  sold  indulgences,  contrary  to  Orthodox  doctrine, 
and  had  even  taken  money  for  baptizing  dead  children. 
Charges  of  gross  personal  immorality  are  hurled  at  all  the 
Ionian  clergy  and  monks.  In  fact,  the  language  of  the 
Syrian  apologists  becomes  so  sweeping  and  bitter  that  the 
reader  of  the  indictment  is  driven  to  ask  whether  the 
brotherhood,  too,  may  not  have  a  side  to  maintain. 

1  It  is  alleged  that  the  figures  (equal  to  about  eight  hundred  thousand 
dollars)  were  copied  by  the  secretary  of  the  Imperial  (Russian)  Society 
of  Palestine  from  the  accounts  of  the  Jerusalem  Patriarchate  in  1890. 
Compare  this  with  the  semi-official  statement  made  to  the  writer  (p.  73) 
placing  the  annual  income  at  about  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
dollars. 


64     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Before  attempting,  however,  to  show  the  point  of  view 
of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  in  this  unhappy 
quarrel,  we  must  turn  to  review  briefly  the  relations  between 
this  organization  and  the  Patriarchate  of  Antioch.  Ac- 
cording to  the  native  chroniclers  this  patriarchate  remained 
independent  of  Ionian  control  until  the  events  following  the 
Catholic  schism  of  1724.  Before  the  death  of  Athanasius, 
the  last  of  the  line  of  Arab  or  local  patriarchs,  he  recom- 
mended the  Holy  Synod  of  Damascus  to  choose  for  patri- 
arch one  Sylvestre,  of  the  Ionian  clergy  of  Constantinople, 
who  might  be  able  to  give  dignity  and  authority  to  their 
weakened  cause  in  the  eyes  of  the  Turkish  Government,  and 
also,  if  possible,  to  heal  the  breach.  Thus  Sylvestre  was 
elevated  to  the  See  of  Antioch,  by  appointment  from  the 
Holy  Synod  of  Constantinople,  at  the  official  request  of  the 
Holy  Synod  at  Damascus,  who  had  elected  him.  This 
practice  was  kept  up  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  with- 
out infringement  on  the  real  independence  of  the  See  of 
Antioch.  Instead  of  healing  the  breach,  however,  from  his 
first  entry  into  the  see,  Sylvestre  so  antagonized  the  people 
that  many  followed  the  seceders  into  the  Greek  Catholic 
Church,  just  organized  under  a  rival  patriarch.1  His  five 
successors,  one  or  another,  are  accused  of  simony,  neglect 
of  native  educational  institutions,  filling  up  the  bishoprics 
with  lonians,  exploiting  the  see  for  the  use  of  their  relatives 
abroad,  intriguing  with  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sep- 
ulchre, and  persecuting  the  Greek  Catholics.  Summing  up, 
the  indictment  declares  that  instead  of  realizing  the  hopes 
of  the  Orthodox,  and  thus  preventing  the  spread  of  schism, 
these  six  patriarchs,  from  1728  2  to  1850,  through  their  abuse 
and  cruelty,  were  the  direct  means  of  driving  many  of  the 
Orthodox  into  the  fold  of  the  papacy,  thus  precipitating  the 
official  recognition  by  the  Turkish  Government  of  the  Greek 
Catholics  as  members  of  an  independent  church. 

The  line  of  patriarchs,  who  besides  being  lonians  were 
also  members  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
began  in  1850.  According  to  custom,  the  Holy  Synod  at 


1  See  page   91. 

2  Date  of  the  recognition  of  Sylvestre  by  the  Porte. 


RECENT  MOVEMENT  IN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH   65 

Damascus,  on  the  death  of  the  patriarch,  requested  the 
Holy  Synod  at  Constantinople  to  appoint  a  certain  Gregory, 
or  failing  him,  any  other  desirable  person.  Thus  Erotheos, 
a  member  of  the  brotherhood,  who  was  reported  to  be  of 
enormous  wealth,  was  chosen  by  the  Constantinople  clergy, 
and  accepted  by  the  Holy  Synod  at  Damascus,  consisting 
at  that  time  chiefly  of  lonians.  The  contemptuous  native 
account  of  the  long  rule  of  Erotheos,  which  lasted  from  1850 
to  1885,  accuses  him  of  all  the  faults  and  vices  of  his  six 
Ionian  predecessors,  as  well  as  of  personal  immorality.  In 
fact  the  obviously  exaggerated  indictment  overreaches  itself 
in  the  final  statement  that  during  his  patriarchate  the  Church 
of  Antioch  was  disgraced,  irreligion  and  immorality  flour- 
ished everywhere,  churches  and  schools  were  razed  to  the 
ground.  "Had  he  lived  longer,"  so  the  campaign  docu- 
ment excitedly  winds  up,  "the  utter  destruction  of  the 
church  would  have  been  certain."  Stripped  of  its  exag- 
geration, the  account  certainly  reveals  a  very  serious  con- 
dition of  misrule.  Before  the  death  of  Erotheos,  the  laymen 
of  Damascus,  backed  by  the  national  party  throughout  the 
see,  had  determined  to  get  rid  of  foreign  control  by  working 
for  a  restoration  of  the  status  quo  ante,  with  a  purely  native 
hierarchy  from  the  patriarch  down.  Even  in  the  worst  days 
of  Ionian  rule,  the  Holy  Synod  had  never  lacked  for  one  or 
two  native  bishops.  In  the  struggle  to  secure  the  next  patri- 
arch, the  native  or  "national"  element,  was  beaten,  so  it 
alleges,  by  an  intrigue,  headed  by  Nicodemus,  Patriarch  of 
Jerusalem,  assisted  by  his  brother  of  Constantinople  and  by 
the  Greek  Government  successfully  supporting  the  candidacy 
of  Gerasimos.  This  prelate  was  a  cultivated  man  of  gra- 
cious bearing  and  good  scholarship,  but  his  Greek  blood, 
together  with  his  membership  in  the  brotherhood,  made  him 
persona  non  grata  to  the  natives.  The  object  of  this  intrigue 
was  to  persuade  the  Sublime  Porte  that  the  native  element 
was  working  in  the  interests  of  Russian  influence  in  the  see. 
Russia  has  always  been  the  bogie-man  to  dangle  before  the 
eyes  of  Turkey.  To  this  day  the  cry  of  "Wolf!  Wolf!"  (if 
one  may  thus  call  the  Russian  bear)  is  the  final  resource 
employed  to  down  an  opponent.  In  1891,  Nicodemus  fell 


66     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

victim  to  this  same  cry.  This  time,  however,  it  was  raised 
against  himself,  forcing  him  to  resign  his  see.  Gerasimos 
was  translated  from  the  See  of  Antioch  to  that  of  Jerusalem, 
but  from  his  new  throne  was  instrumental  in  securing  the 
election  at  Damascus  of  one  Spiridon,  also  a  member  of  the 
Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  "  Constantinople," 
a  Greek  journal,  exulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  "hot-headed 
Syrians,"  who,  it  maintained,  actuated  by  pride  and  avarice, 
had  tried  to  usurp  the  spiritual  power.  The  Syrians,  in 
turn,  declared  that  Spiridon  had  bought  the  Patriarchate  of 
Antioch  cheap  by  a  bargain  with  the  nobles  of  Damascus. 
The  charge  of  working  in  the  interest  of  Russia  they  vehe- 
mently deny.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  note  of  genuine 
conviction  in  the  voice  of  the  Damascene  gentleman  who, 
in  relating  the  events  which  I  am  about  to  chronicle — events 
in  which  he  was  a  principal  actor — repudiated  the  idea  of 
subserviency  to  Russia.  "Why  change  the  rule  of  the 
lonians  for  that  of  the  Russians?"  he  asked.  "Why  run 
from  the  rain  to  seek  refuge  under  the  water-spout?  We 
have  made  use  of  Russia,  in  permitting  her  to  establish 
schools  for  our  benefit,  but  with  the  exception  of  allowing 
one  Russian  priest  to  make  an  annual  visit  to  confess  and 
communicate  members  of  the  Russian  church  in  our  see, 
we  do  not  allow  a  single  Russian  ecclesiastic  or  monk  to  set 
foot  in  the  patriarchate!" 

From  the  enthronement  of  Spiridon  dates  the  final  strug- 
gle between  the  two  parties.  It  began  immediately  in  a 
quarrel  for  the  control  of  the  "  wakf,"  or  church  revenues. 
At  first  the  Turkish  Government  stood  behind  the  patriarch. 
At  one  time  the  people  took  to  the  old  resort  of  boycotting 
the  churches,  assembling  for  service  in  the  cemetery,  which 
being  consecrated  ground  was  more  suitable  than  a  private 
house.  Increasing  in  courage  and  solidarity,  the  national 
party  held  out  against  the  strong  combine  of  Greek  Church 
and  Turkish  State,  until,  in  1896,  some  of  the  demands  were 
granted.  Two  or  three  years  later  the  laymen  persuaded 
the  governor  (now  brought  over  to  their  side)  to  permit  the 
assembling  of  the  Holy  Synod  to  impeach  the  patriarch. 
The  actual  crisis  was  precipitated  by  an  unwise  act  of  Spiri- 


RECENT  MOVEMENT  IN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH   67 

don  himself.  In  the  summer  of  1898  he  granted  to  one  of 
his  flock,  who  was  interpreter  to  the  governor,  a  decree  of 
divorce  which  appeared  to  the  indignant  Orthodox  to  be 
irregular.  The  long-smouldering  rebellion  broke  into  a  blaze. 
The  following  day  the  people  crowded  into  the  cathedral, 
shouting:  "We  won't  have  a  patriarch  who  gives  such  di- 
vorces!" Men  seized  on  the  ropes  and  tolled  the  great  bell 
as  for  a  funeral,  while  the  crowd  shouted:  "Our  patriarch 
is  dead!  Our  patriarch  is  dead!  We  must  have  another!" 
Hard  by  in  his  palace,  Spiridon  heard  the  death-knell  of  his 
sovereignty.  The  uproar  spread  through  the  city,  reaching 
the  ears  of  the  civil  governor  and  the  military  commander, 
who  immediately  inferred  that  a  revolution  against  the 
government  had  broken  out.  Revolution  indeed  it  was,  but 
ecclesiastical,  not  political.  Together  the  two  pachas  hur- 
ried to  the  cathedral,  entering,  however,  with  no  show  of 
force.  The  civil  governor  demanded  to  know  what  was  the 
matter,  but  was  answered  only  by  renewed  cries:  "Our 
patriarch  is  dead!  He  is  against  our  religion!"  Finally 
grasping  the  situation,  he  attempted  to  mediate  between 
patriarch  and  people,  hastening  from  cathedral  to  palace, 
from  palace  back  to  cathedral.  Not  until  he  gave  his  per- 
sonal guarantee  that  the  decree  of  divorce  would  be  annulled 
were  the  people  willing  to  disperse.  But  not  yet  did  the 
patriarch  understand  their  temper.  With  a  fatuous  stub- 
bornness that  predicted  his  downfall,  he  threatened  to  arrest 
two  native  priests  who  had  omitted  his  name  in  the  com- 
memoration of  the  mass.  They  fled  to  the  sanctuary  of  the 
cathedral,  as  it  were  to  the  very  horns  of  the  altar.  To  the 
cathedral  at  midnight  came  the  patriarch's  creatures,  with 
a  guard  of  Turkish  soldiers;  the  former  broke  down  the  door 
and  entered,  the  soldiers  remained  tentatively  passive  out- 
side. A  parley  ensued,  resulting  in  the  surrender  of  the 
priests.  "The  sanctuary  must  not  be  defiled  by  Turkish 
soldiers,"  they  said.  "  Rather  we  will  go  with  you."  At  once 
the  entire  Christian  quarter  was  aroused.  By  two  o'clock 
six  hundred  Orthodox  had  gathered  in  the  cathedral;  by 
dawn  the  crowd  numbered  four  thousand,  including  Chris- 
tians of  all  sects,  all  shouting  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  This 


68     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

time  they  were  not  to  be  quieted,  even  when  the  governor 
brought  back  the  priests  who  had  been  detained  in  the  com- 
mander's room.  Soon  his  excellency  realized  how  far  this 
ecclesiastical  revolution  had  spread.  His  office  was  flooded 
with  telegrams  from  the  bishops,  wanting  to  know  what  the 
matter  was,  demanding  permission  to  come  to  settle  it  in 
conclave.  This  permission  being  received,  one  by  one  the 
bishops  assembled  in  Damascus  from  the  limits  of  the  see. 

As  a  condition  of  his  official  support  of  the  popular  party, 
the  governor  demanded  and  received  from  the  leaders  the 
promise  that  they  would  elect,  as  new  patriarch,  Germanus, 
Bishop  of  Tarsus,  one  of  the  four  Ionian  bishops,  even 
though  the  Syrians  by  that  time  held  a  majority  of  the  sees. 
That  the  national  leaders  knew  what  they  were  doing  soon 
transpired.  In  the  game  of  diplomacy  that  followed  they 
scored  at  each  turn,  though  candid  admiration  must  be 
seasoned  by  candid  acknowledgment  of  pretty  sharp  practice. 
The  first  business  of  the  synod  was  to  get  rid  of  Spiridon,  who 
in  the  meantime  had  fled  to  the  Convent  of  Sedanaya  to 
escape  the  dreaded  examination  of  accounts.  He,  however, 
presently  eliminated  himself,  proceeding  to  Constantinople, 
under  the  advice  of  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and 
Jerusalem,  who,  counting  on  the  people's  promise,  felt  sure 
in  any  case  of  the  continuance  of  Ionian  control.  The 
synod,  then,  resolving  itself  into  an  electoral  body,  named 
as  patriarchal  vicar,  Germanus,  upon  whom  the  mantle  of 
the  fatuous  Spiridon  appears  to  have  fallen.  Now,  in  default 
of  a  recognized  code  of  procedure  for  the  election  of  patri- 
archs the  national  party  had  received  official  permission  to 
follow  in  principle  the  Constantinople  regulations.  This 
was  the  first  strategic  gain,  for,  in  the  first  place,  it  gave  the 
laity  a  goodly  number  of  votes,  and,  in  the  second  place, 
it  disqualified  as  candidates  the  three  other  Ionian  bishops, 
whose  tenure  of  their  sees  had  not  reached  the  required 
number  of  seven  years.  Angered  at  the  trap  in  which  they 
had  allowed  themselves  to  be  caught,  the  three  bishops  left 
the  conclave,  followed  most  stupidly  by  Germanus,  the  pre- 
siding officer,  who  by  sticking  to  the  general  Ionian  cause 
threw  away  his  own  chances  for  the  patriarchate.  For,  by 


RECENT  MOVEMENT  IN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH   69 

leaving  the  conclave  on  account  of  his  objections  to  the 
officially  endorsed  regulations,  he  not  only  became  persona 
non  grata  to  the  government,  but  by  persisting  in  his  refusal 
to  return,  after  repeated  warnings  and  requests,  he  accepted 
the  position  of  forcing  the  only  too-delighted  conclave,  now 
homogeneously  Syrian,  to  elect  another  presiding  officer, 
who  was  soon  confirmed  by  the  sultan! 

Ionian  control  of  the  Patriarchate  of  Antioch  was  not 
abandoned  without  a  sharp  struggle.  The  other  patriarchs, 
led  by  the  Ecumenical  patriarch,  succeeded  in  blocking  the 
proceedings  at  Damascus  by  presenting  one  technical  ob- 
jection after  another  to  the  Porte  at  Constantinople.  As 
to  the  validity  of  their  objections  I  claim  to  be  no  judge.  It 
is  sufficient  to  chronicle  the  triumph  of  the  national  leaders, 
who,  after  waiting  for  months  for  an  authorization  of  candi- 
dates from  Constantinople,  executed  a  coup  d'etat  by  electing 
as  patriarch  one  Malatios,  a  Syrian  bishop,  a  man  praised 
by  his  fellow-countrymen  as  being  devoted  to  the  interests 
of  the  church,  but  neither  clever  nor  learned.  The  Porte 
wras  notified,  and  in  four  months  the  official  confirmation 
arrived  (1899).  According  to  custom,  the  new  patriarch 
wrote  "letters  of  peace,"  announcing  his  election  to  the 
heads  of  the  independent  churches,  receiving  friendly  an- 
swers from  Russia,  Servia,  and  Roumania,  but  none  from 
Athens  or  the  three  other  patriarchates.  The  official  reason 
given  for  this  refusal  of  recognition  was  that  the  election  con- 
travened the  ecclesiastical  canons  as  well  as  the  prevailing 
customs  of  the  See  of  Antioch.  That  racial  feeling,  however, 
played  the  strongest  part  was  proved  by  the  refusal  of  the 
same  churches  to  recognize  the  election  of  Malatios's  suc- 
cessor, which  took  place  on  June  5,  1906.  That  this  was 
technically  legal  I  have  been  assured  by  one  of  the  Ionian 
prelates.  Terms  of  reconciliation  between  the  See  of  Anti- 
och and  the  three  patriarchates,  sought  as  early  as  1908, 
were  finally  agreed  upon  in  1910.  The  present  Patriarch  of 
Antioch,  Gregorios,  is  a  native  of  the  Lebanon,  said  to  be  a 
preacher  of  eloquence  and  well  versed  in  Arab  history  and 
the  Moslem  religion.  An  American  missionary,  for  almost 
forty  years  resident  in  Syria,  regards  the  successful  out- 


70     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

come  of  the  long  struggle  of  the  natives  to  recapture  the 
See  of  Antioch  as  the  fruit  of  the  growing  independence  and 
self-confidence  of  the  Orthodox  people,  who,  in  the  early 
days  of  his  residence,  did  not  consider  the  Ionian  domination 
as  pure  evil,  but  freely  acknowledged  their  need  of  some  out- 
side power  to  keep  the  church  from  disintegrating  through 
the  disputes  of  local  factions. 

The  struggle  between  the  native  and  Ionian  parties  in 
the  See  of  Jerusalem  did  not  reach  an  acute  stage  until 
the  autumn  of  1908,  when  the  newly  revived  constitution 
awakened  new  hopes  of  independence  and  liberty  in  all 
branches  of  the  people  over  the  Turkish  Empire.  The 
native  Syrians  formulated  a  demand  for  certain  church  re- 
forms, including  the  organization  of  a  mixed  assembly,  lay 
and  clerical,  Ionian  and  native,  authorized  by  the  constitu- 
tion of  1877  to  control  ecclesiastical  affairs.1  A  similar 
body  has  been  in  operation  at  Constantinople  for  some  years. 
To  press  their  claims,  the  Orthodox  natives  elected  a  com- 
mittee of  forty.  Pending  government  action  upon  these, 
the  whole  community  of  some  five  thousand  souls  went  on  a 
religious  strike,  boycotting  the  churches,  which  remained 
closed,  while  their  priests  conducted  an  occasional  service 
in  the  Cemetery  of  Zion.  The  splendid  rites  of  Holy  Week 
and  of  Easter  of  1909  and  1910  were  unattended,  save  by  the 
lonians  and  foreigners.  Meanwhile  the  patriarch,  Dami- 
anus,  having  become  persona  non  grata  to  the  Holy  Synod, 
was  deposed  by  that  body,  who  accused  him,  unofficially  at 

1  Their  demands,  found  in  an  open  letter,  published  as  an  Arabic 
leaflet,  were  briefly  as  follows: 

1.  That  the  law  should  be  enforced,  giving  the  representatives  of  the 
people  votes  at  the  election  of  the  patriarch.  (They  claim  that  for  a 
long  period  their  representatives  have  simply  been  allowed  to  be  pres- 
ent, with  no  vote.)  2.  That  the  regulations  regarding  the  election  of 
bishops  be  enforced.  3.  That  the  native  Syrians  be  granted  admission 
to  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  thus  be  eligible  to  the 
higher  ranks  of  the  hierarchy.  4.  That  a  mixed  assembly  of  clergy, 
secular  and  regular,  and  of  laymen  be  appointed  to  regulate  temporal 
and  spiritual  affairs.  5.  That  all  bishops  be  resident  in  their  sees. 
6.  That  Syrian  pilgrims  be  entertained  in  the  convent.  (They  admit 
that  this  last  had  been  conceded,  but  they  want  "all  or  nothing.") 


RECENT  MOVEMENT  IN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH   71 

least,  of  favoring  the  native  Syrians.  These,  then,  espoused 
the  deposed  patriarch's  cause,  not  because  they  believed  he 
was  any  more  favorable  to  themselves  than  was  the  synod, 
but  because  they  held  his  deposition  to  be  an  infringement  of 
their  constitutional  rights,  as  they  had  not  been  consulted  in 
the  matter.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  there  was  presented 
in  the  Holy  City  a  condition  as  topsy-turvy  as  it  was  scanda- 
lous. On  one  side  of  the  narrow  lane,  crossed  by  the  bridge 
connecting  patriarchate  and  convent,  were  stationed  two 
hundred  armed  Orthodox  natives,  assisted  by  a  posse  of 
Turkish  soldiers  in  guarding  a  patriarch  whom  they  refused 
to  commemorate  in  their  prayers.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
lane,  the  convent  was  picketed  by  a  body  of  armed  monks, 
reinforced  by  two  hundred  Turkish  soldiers,  and — so  the 
story  goes — by  one  hundred  Cretans,  dressed  up  as  monks 
and  armed  to  the  teeth.  For  nine  days  the  peace  of  Jeru- 
salem was  seriously  disturbed  by  this  recrudescence  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  A  number  of  murders  occurred.  In- 
vestigation by  a  commission,  headed  by  the  governor  of 
Syria,  and  sent  by  the  Porte  to  inquire  into  the  legality  of 
the  deposition  of  Damianus,  resulted  in  his  re-establish- 
ment on  the  throne.  Patriarch  and  people,  with  great 
shouting  and  firing  of  guns,  marched  in  procession  to  thank 
the  pacha  at  his  hotel.  The  prelatical  ringleaders  of  the 
Ionian  opposition  were  sent  into  exile,  amid  the  execra- 
tions of  some  over-excited  native  Orthodox  assembled  at 
the  station  to  witness  their  departure.  The  Holy  Synod, 
perforce,  accepted  the  ruling  of  the  commission.  The 
Patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and  of  Alexandria  dissented. 
Thus,  at  the  close  of  the  year  1909  the  Orthodox  Church 
in  Syria  and  Palestine  presented  the  following  combina- 
tions: A  Patriarch  of  Antioch  not  recognized  by  the  Pa- 
triarchs of  Constantinople,  Jersualem,  and  Alexandria;  a 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  not  acknowledged  by  the  Patri- 
archs of  Constantinople  and  Alexandria;  a  native  Ortho- 
dox people  triumphant  in  the  See  of  Antioch;  and,  finally, 
a  native  Orthodox  people  in  the  See  of  Jerusalem  still  on 
religious  strike,  with  closed  churches,  still  demanding  their 
share  in  the  financial  and  spiritual  control,  still  distrusting 


72     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

the  patriarch,  whom  they  had  helped  to  reinstate,  and  who, 
they  declare,  had  not  helped  their  cause  one  whit. 

The  report  of  the  government  committee  at  Constanti- 
nople in  answer  to  the  demands  of  the  Syrians  was  made 
during  the  first  half  of  the  year  1910.  On  the  face  of  it  this 
was  favorable  to  the  national  party,  as  it  sanctioned  the 
formation  of  the  mixed  assembly,  and  appeared  also  to 
sanction  the  admission  of  Syrians  to  the  Brotherhood  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  and  thus  to  higher  clerical  rank.  The 
Syrians,  however,  by  continuing  to  boycott  the  churches, 
evinced  their  scepticism  as  to  the  real  intentions  of  the 
lonians  in  control  of  the  brotherhood  to  throw  open  the 
doors  for  their  admission.1  On  the  other  hand,  they  began 
to  feel  some  hope  that  by  means  of  their  influence  in  the 
newly  constituted  assembly  the  educational  rights  of  their 
children  might  now  at  last  be  recognized.  While  thus  in 
the  summer  of  1910  the  Ionian  and  Syrian  factions  were 
still  at  variance  in  the  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem,  the  four 
Greek  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Antioch,  Jerusalem, 
and  Alexandria  had  again  become  reconciled. 

We  must  not  leave  this  unhappy  ecclesiastical  quarrel, 
which  naturally  evokes  considerable  sympathy  for  the  na- 
tional party  in  Jersualem,  without  stating  the  contention  of 
the  leaders  of  the  Ionian  faction,  which,  in  turn,  presents 
its  plausible  side.2  The  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
they  declare,  was  founded  for  the  preservation  of  the  holy 
places:  this  is  the  burden  of  their  whole  argument.  Native 
Syrians  were  at  first  admitted  to  its  membership,  thus 
becoming  eligible  to  higher  clerical  rank;  but  later  their 
exclusion  was  found  to  be  necessary,  because  their  loyal 
co-operation  in  the  preservation  of  the  holy  places  was  sus- 

1  The  churches  at  Jaffa  and,  I  understand,  at  some  other  places  which, 
though  in  the  patriarchate,  are  not  in  the  patriarch's  own  Episcopal  See 
of  Jerusalem,  had  been  reopened  before  this.     In  such  churches  it  is  not 
necessary  at  the  liturgy  to  commemorate  the  patriarch,  but  only  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese.     In  Jerusalem  the  people  objected  to  commemo- 
rate their  patriarch-bishop,  whom,  as  president  of  the  brotherhood,  they 
regarded  as  responsible  for  their  exclusion. 

2  The  Ionian  position  was  stated  by  a  dignitary  of  the  convent  in  a 
private  interview  in  1909. 


RECENT  MOVEMENT  IN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH   73 

pec  ted.  Could  their  loyalty  be  assured,  they  would  be  read- 
mitted at  once.  They  have,  however,  shown  in  several 
ways  that  they  cannot  be  trusted.  Holy  places,  formerly 
turned  over  to  them,  were  either  neglected  or  given  to  the 
Latins.  When  appointed  to  the  higher  positions  in  the 
church,  their  ecclesiastics  have  intrigued  with  Russia,  whose 
programme,  in  charge  of  the  Imperial  Society  of  Palestine, 
is  to  get  control  of  the  holy  places.  To  this  end  it  stirred 
up  national  feelings  which  had  not  been  active  before. 
Russia,  they  still  declare,  made  the  first  Syrian  Patriarch 
of  Antioch.  Another  reason  for  the  exclusion  of  the  natives 
from  control  is  that  they  might  yield  to  the  temptation  of 
appropriating  moneys  of  the  church  for  the  benefit  of  their 
relatives  living  on  the  spot,  a  temptation  far  less  strong  in 
the  case  of  foreign  monks,  who  nevertheless  have  sometimes 
yielded  to  it.  They  acknowledge  that  the  convent,  which 
is  the  head-quarters  of  the  brotherhood,  has  often  failed  in 
performing  its  duties,  and  this  for  many  reasons,  notably 
such  as  naturally  arise  from  government  conditions.  They 
are  eager  to  establish  a  modus  Vivendi  by  which  the  natives 
might  enjoy  their  just  rights,  but  these  can  never  include 
financial  control.  The  reason  for  withholding  this  is  simple 
but  cogent;  the  Syrians  contribute  nothing  toward  the  reve- 
nues of  the  see,  which,  coming  from  foreign  sources,  should 
be  under  foreign  control.  Among  the  monks  are  representa- 
tives of  all  the  lands  from  which  the  revenue  comes.  On 
the  contrary,  while  the  natives  contribute  nothing,  they  re- 
ceive much.  Of  the  revenue  of  the  convent,  which  is  only 
sixty  thousand  napoleons  (two  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
dollars)  annually,  one-quarter  is  spent  on  the  care  of  the 
holy  places,  etc.,  three-quarters  being  devoted  to  the  good 
of  the  see.  Seventeen  thousand  napoleons  (sixty-eight 
thousand  dollars)  a  year  are  spent  on  the  Orthodox  in  Jeru- 
salem, who  receive  bread  twice  a  week  gratis,  house  rent 
(ranging  from  ten  to  thirty  napoleons),  the  amount  of  their 
military  taxes,  the  salaries  of  their  priests,  and  the  educa- 
tion of  their  children.  The  balance  of  the  forty-five  thou- 
sand napoleons  is  spent  on  the  rest  of  the  see. 

In  regard  to  this  matter  of  education,  as  in  other  dis- 


74     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

crepant  statements,  we  must  point  the  reader  back  to  the 
contention  of  the  Syrians,  who  declare  that,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  their  own  children  are  excluded  from  the  higher  schools. 
As  to  the  income  of  the  convent,  they  maintain  the  whole 
financial  system  to  be  so  rotten  that  no  one  knows  whence 
it  comes  or  whither  it  goes.  The  controversy  plainly  has 
two  sides.  It  is  in  effect  a  controversy  between  a  wealthy 
corporation,  determined  to  keep  control  of  the  funds  which 
it  has  been  the  means  of  collecting,  but  also  using  its  power 
to  control  ecclesiastical  legislation  outside  of  its  own  imme- 
diate jurisdiction,  and  the  people  who  undoubtedly  benefit 
by  it,  but  who,  as  undoubtedly,  have  lost  many  of  their 
rights  because  of  its  dominating  influence. 

III.    THE  JACOBITE  OR  OLD  SYRIAN  CHURCH 

The  ecclesiastical  body  which  we  are  now  about  to 
consider  is  known  to  the  outside  world  by  two  names: 
the  Jacobite  Church  and  the  Old  Syrian  Church;  but  the 
members  themselves  dislike  the  former  title.  Both  names 
serve  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Syrian  Catholics.  Its  head- 
quarters are  at  the  monastery  Deir-ez-Za'feran,  near  Mardin, 
which  became  the  seat  of  the  Jacobite  Patriarch  of  Antioch, 
in  the  eleventh  century.1  The  bulk  of  the  old  Syrians  in- 
habit Mesopotamia,  only  about  one-tenth  being  found  in 
Syria.  Of  the  total  number  in  the  Turkish  Empire  widely 
varying  estimates  are  made.  Parry  notes  the  ignorance  of 
the  patriarch  in  regard  to  the  number  of  his  flock,2  but  esti- 
mates the  Turkish  subjects  under  his  control  as  being 
somewhere  between  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  and 
two  hundred  thousand.3  With  this  estimate  that  of  Tozer 
agrees.4  Parry  states,  however,  that  the  number  of  Jaco- 
bites in  Syria  proper,  "in  the  villages  scattered  about  Hums 
and  Damascus,"  is  ten  thousand,5  which  is  only  about  half 

iaSix  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery,"  p.  300,  by  O.  H.  Parry 
(London,  1895). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  67.  3  Ibid.,  p.  346. 

4  "The  Church  and  the  Eastern  Empire,"  p.  80,  by  H.  B.  Tozer. 
6  Vide  supra,  p.  345. 


THE  JACOBITE  OR  OLD  SYRIAN  CHURCH   75 

the  estimate  of  nineteen  thousand  given  at  the  beginning  of 
our  chapter.  On  the  other  hand,  Huber,  as  quoted  by 
de  Jehay,1  places  the  total  number  in  the  Turkish  Empire 
at  only  one  hundred  thousand.  At  Hums  I  was  told  there 
are  four  thousand  or  five  thousand.  At  Hama  there  are 
but  four  hundred  or  five  hundred.  Parry  places  the  old 
Syrian  population  of  Sudud  (the  ancient  Zedad,  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  Promised  Land)  at  three  thousand.  In 
Damascus  the  Syrians  are  mostly  Catholics.  There,  some 
years  since,  I  had  an  interview  with  the  well-known  scholar, 
the  late  Joseph  David,  Syrian-Catholic  bishop,  in  the  well- 
stocked  library  of  his  spacious  mansion,  which  later  I  was 
able  to  contrast  with  the  meagerly  furnished  upper  room 
occupied  by  the  shabbily  dressed  priest  of  the  Jacobite 
Church,  who  bitterly  declared  that  the  Syrian  Catholics,  in 
going  over  to  the  pope,  had  stolen  all  the  church  property  of 
the.  Jacobites!  Conditions  are  similar  at  Aleppo,  where  the 
Jacobite  Church  is  said  to  be  a  poor  affair  in  comparison 
with  the  churches  of  all  the  other  communions.  In  Mesopo- 
tamia itself,  poverty  characterizes  the  community.  Schools 
are  of  the  most  primitive  type.  The  Jacobites  are  repre- 
sented in  Palestine  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred 
households  in  Bethlehem,  and  by  some  ten  households  in  the 
Holy  City.  Most  of  the  men  in  both  places  are  masons. 
In  Jerusalem  a  Jacobite  bishop  presides  over  a  convent, 
with  four  resident  monks.2  In  communion  with  the  Jaco- 
bite Church,  and  thus  under  the  nominal  control  of  its  patri- 
arch, are  the  non-Catholic  Syrians  in  Malabar  and  Ceylon, 
Nestorian  in  origin,  estimated  at  three  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  souls.  Of  these  we  shall  speak  later. 

The  official  title  of  the  Jacobite  patriarch  is:  "Exalted 
Patriarch  of  the  Apostolic  See  of  Antioch  and  of  all  the 
Jacobite  Churches  in  Syria  and  the  East."  It  has  been 
stated  that  the  patriarch  must  be  elected  by  unanimous 
vote  of  all  the  people.  However,  a  young  man  who  has 

1  "  De  la  Situation  Legale  des  Sujets  Ottomans  non-Musulmans,  par 
le  comte  de  Jehay,"  p.  37. 

2  See  article,  "The  Syrian  (Jacobite)  Patriarch  in  Jerusalem,"  by  the 
Jerusalem  correspondent  of  "The  Living  Church,"  September  26,  1908. 


76     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

acted  as  secretary  to  the  present  patriarch  informs  me  that 
the  election  is  now  solely  in  the  hands  of  the  bishops.  The 
patriarch  always  assumes  the  name  Ignatius.  Tozer  says: 
"  Though  this  custom  arose  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  name  is  derived 
from  that  of  the  saint  who  was  the  first  bishop  of  An- 
tioch."  When  chaplain  to  his  predecessor,  the  present 
patriarch  visited  England,  where  he  was  cordially  received 
by  Archbishop  Benson  and  other  Anglican  dignitaries. 
On  state  occasions  he  wears  a  black  silk  robe  over  a  pur- 
ple soutane,  two  heavy  gold  chains,  one  with  pectoral 
cross,  rubies  and  diamonds  massively  set,  and  one  with  a 
medallion.2 

The  Jacobite  Church  recognizes  a  unique  dignitary  called 
'Mafrian,  theoretically  a  sort  of  suffragan-patriarch,  to  repre- 
sent the  patriarch  in  the  Far  East,  Persia,  and  Arabia,  as 
primate  or  catholicos.  The  title  has  become  purely  hon- 
orary,3 but  in  early  times  the  mafrian  consecrated  bishops, 
blessed  the  chrism  or  holy  oil,  and  enjoyed  other  patriarchal 
privileges.  According  to  Parry  the  designations  Mutran' 
and  Is'qof  (properly  applying  to  metropolitan  and  bishop, 
respectively)  have  a  curious  use  in  the  Syrian  Church.  He 
states  that  the  bishops  are  divided  into  two  classes,  those 
chosen  from  among  the  monks,  called  mu trans,  and  those 
chosen  from  the  parish  priests  who  are  widowers,  called 
isqofs.  These  latter  rank  below  the  mutrans,  and  are  not 
eligible  to  the  patriarchate.4  This  puts  a  premium  on 
celibacy  in  the  Syrian  Church,  which  is  not  found  in  the 
Orthodox  Church,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  a  widower  may 
become  patriarch.  The  Syrian  bishops  wear  a  large  round 
head-dress,  upon  a  card  or  canvas  frame,  covered  with 
black  cloth  in  five  folds.5  The  Maronite  clergy,  including 
the  parish  priests,  used  to  wear  a  similar  head-gear,  but 
it  is  now  rather  out  of  fashion.  The  Syrian  bishops  wear 

1  "The  Church  and  the  Eastern  Empire,"  op.  tit.,  p.  81. 

2  Article  in  "The  Living  Church,"  op.  tit. 

3  At  present  no  one  holds  it. 

4  "Six  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery,"  op.  tit.,  p.  318. 
6  Ibid.,  p.  318. 


THE  JACOBITE  OR  OLD  SYRIAN  CHURCH    77 

neither  mitre  nor  ring,  but  carry  a  staff  topped  with  two 
serpents.1 

The  parish  priests  must  be  married  before  they  can  be 
ordained.  Those  who  become  widowers  are  usually  ex- 
pected to  retire  to  a  monastery,  as  the  services  of  a  celibate 
are  not  wanted  by  the  people.  In  striking  contrast  to  the 
long-haired  Greek  clergy,  the  Jacobite  priests  should  keep 
their  heads  closely  shaved,  but  a  beard  must  be  worn.  The 
title  of  Chorepiscopus,  or  Country  Bishop,  which  disap- 
peared in  the  West  early  in  the  Middle  Ages,  survives  among 
the  lower  clergy  of  the  Syrian  communions,  including  the 
Maronites.  Among  the  Jacobites  to-day  it  is  usually  given 
to  the  leading  priest  of  a  town,  whose  position  is  something 
like  that  of  an  Anglican  rural  dean.2  He  outranks  the  other 
priests,  but  is  subordinate  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese. 
Khuri,  the  ordinary  term  for  parish  priest  in  Arabic,  is 
supposed  to  be  an  echo  of  the  term  chorepiscopus. 

Among  the  Syrians,  the  term  Shemmas  (deacon)  is  com- 
monly applied  not  only  to  the  archdeacon,  the  deacon  proper, 
and  the  subdeacon,  but  also  to  the  singers  and  readers.3 
This  practice  appears  to  be  a  survival  from  primitive  times 
when  no  emphasis  was  laid  upon  the  distinction  between 
the  "Ordines  Majores"  and  the  "Ordines  Minores."4 
All  play  an  important  part  in  the  active  life  of  the  Syrian 
churches  to-day,  both  Jacobite  and  Catholic.  All  proudly 
refer  to  themselves  as  deacons.  No  city  should  contain 
more  than  one  archdeacon,  but  a  large  church  may  possess 
(say)  eight  deacons,  six  subdeacons,  and  some  fifty  readers 
and  singers.  The  two  lower  orders  may  be  held  by  mere 
boys.5  In  case  of  all  but  the  lowest  (singers),  ordination 

1  For  a  list  of  the  episcopal  sees  consult  Appendix. 

2  This  comparison  is  made  by  Parry,  p.  325. 

3  The  lower  orders  appear  to  be  filled  in  the  Coptic  Church  also.     A 
young  Copt  told  me  that  he  had  been  regularly  ordained,  at  the  age  of 
ten,  as  an  acolyte,  under  the  general  name  of  shemmas,  or  deacon. 

*See  article,  "Ordines,"  in  the  new  Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia. 

8  My  information  in  regard  to  this  is  conclusive,  the  numbers  quoted 
being  an  estimate  for  the  churches  of  Mardin  and  Mosul.  Parry,  how- 
ever, declares  (page  326)  that  the  lower  orders  of  the  "  Psaltes,  the  reader 
and  the  hypodiaconus,  are  almost  obsolete." 


78     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

must  be  administered  by  the  bishop,  who  clips  off  a  bit  of 
hair  from  the  candidate,  returning  it  to  him  in  a  paper. 
Though  not  in  priest's  orders,  the  archdeacon  may  say  mass 
by  especial  order  of  the  bishop.  However,  this  order  ap- 
pears to  be  lapsing  in  the  Jacobite  Church,  and  is  not  recog- 
nized by  the  Syrian  Catholics.  The  deacon  proper  is  called 
in  Arabic  Shemmas'  Anji'li,  as  he  reads  the  Gospels.  He 
may  marry  before  his  ordination  to  this  degree,  but  is 
"unfrocked,"  as  it  were,  by  marriage  afterward.  Many 
remain  full  deacons  all  their  lives,  without  passing  to  the 
priesthood,  but  during  the  week  carry  on  their  ordinary 
business.  The  Shemmas  Anjili  figures  prominently  in  the 
church  services.  He  prepares  the  holy  bread,  swings  the 
censer,  passes  on  the  kiss  of  peace  to  the  people  from  the 
sanctuary,1  communes  in  both  kinds  separately,  drinking 
from  the  cup,  and  sometimes  gives  the  holy  elements  from 
the  priest's  hands  to  the  people.  During  the  celebration 
all  "deacons,"  including  the  singers,  wear  white  surplices, 
with  gayly  decorated  stoles.  These  are  worn  "with  a 
difference";  thus  the  archdeacon  wears  his  over  the  right 
shoulder,  the  reader,  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  All  who  take 
part  in  the  sanctuary  or  chancel  should  wear  a  girdle. 
"The  celebrant  wears  a  special  alb,  with  colored  girdle, 
and  over  this  a  chasuble  split  down  the  front  and  fastened 
at  the  neck  by  large  silver  buckles.  Over  the  sleeves  of  this 
alb  he  wears  long  richly  embroidered  gauntlets,  and  over 
his  head  he  draws  from  time  to  time  the  top  part  of  a  veil, 
that  hangs  over  his  back  like  a  kind  of  amice.  He  has  on 
his  head  besides  this  only  a  skull-cap  of  the  same  sort  as 
generally  worn  under  the  turban,  but  more  richly  em- 
broidered with  white  crosses  on  black  ground.  Under  the 
chasuble  he  wears  an  undivided  stole,  like  a  scapular,  and 
on  his  feet  the  yellow  shoes  always  exchanged  within  the 
sanctuary  for  the  usual  black  or  red  ones."  2 

A  large  number  of  Syrians,  estimated  at  about  four 
hundred  and  forty  thousand,  have  their  head-quarters  at 
St.  Thomas,  on  the  Malabar  coast,  being  found  also  in 

1  See  page  137 

2  Parry's  "Syrian  Monastery,"  op.  tit.,  p.  346. 


THE  JACOBITE  OR  OLD  SYRIAN  CHURCH   79 

Ceylon.1  They  owe  their  existence  to  the  missionary  zeal 
which  distinguished  the  Nestorian  communion  in  the  sixth 
century,  when  a  portion  of  the  native  population  of  Mala- 
bar was  assimilated.  One-quarter  of  these  now  acknowl- 
edge papal  supremacy.  The  old  party  may  be  said  to  be 
linked  with  our  subject,  as  their  bishops  now  receive  ordi- 
nation from  the  Jacobite  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  or  from  his 
representatives.2  This  practice  began  in  1665,  when,  cut 
off  from  communion  with  their  own  Nestorian  Catholicos 
in  Mesopotamia,  they  turned  to  the  Jacobite  Metropolitan 
of  Jerusalem,  who  opportunely  appeared  among  them. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  many  cases  ordination  continued 
to  be  irregularly  conducted,  often  without  reference  to 
the  Jacobite  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  About  the  middle  of 
the  last  century  the  question  of  supremacy  of  this  prelate 
over  the  Syrian  Church  of  India  gave  rise  to  ten  years  of 
litigation,  ending  in  the  triumph  of  the  suzerain  power.3 
The  question,  however,  has  been  recently  reopened,  one 
party  in  the  Malabar  church  (which  contains  some  highly 
educated  men)  demanding  "home  rule."  As  this  volume 
goes  to  press  the  Jacobite  patriarch  has  not  yet  returned 
from  a  long  visit  to  Malabar,  where  he  went  to  assert  his 
authority  in  person.  Two  years  before  the  early  submission 
to  the  Jacobites,  in  1665,  there  was  a  split  among  the  Malabar 
Syrians,  a  large  number,  under  the  name  of  Palayacoor, 
or  the  Old  Community,  definitely  refusing  to  submit  any 
longer  to  the  claims  of  the  Roman  See,  which  were  as  defi- 
nitely acknowledged  by  the  minority  under  the  name  of 
Puthencoor,  or  the  New  Community.  The  descendants  of 
the  papal  adherents  to-day  are  said  to  number  some  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand,  or  only  one-third  as  many  as 
the  Palayacoor.  They  do  not  form  an  organic  part  of  the 

1  See  "The  Greek  and  Eastern  Churches,"  p.  530,  by  W.  F.  Adeney, 
a  volume  of  the  International  Theological  Library. 

2  See  also  article  in  "The  Living  Church,"  September  26,  1908,  "The 
Syrian  (Jacobite)  Patriarch  in  Jerusalem."     "  In  his  suite  were  also  .  .  . 
Syrian  monks  from  Malabar,  southern   India,  who  receive  episcopal 
consecration  at  the  hands  of  the  patriarch." 

3  W.  F.  Adeney,  op.  tit.,  pp.  530-533. 


80     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Chaldean  or  United  Nestorian  Church,  but  are  governed 
directly  by  three  apostolic  vicars. 

The  Nestorians  of  the  near  East  do  not  come  strictly  un- 
der our  purview,  as  they  have  no  connection  with  Syria  or 
Palestine.  They  do  not  now  use  this  name,  but  call  them- 
selves Chaldeans,  Syrians,  or  simply  Christians.  They  are 
found  on  the  eastern  confines  of  Turkey,  but  are  chiefly 
grouped  in  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan,  in  Persia  proper, 
and  on  the  plains  north  of  Mosul,  with  colonies  in  Mosul 
itself  and  in  Diarbekir.  As  they  represent,  however,  a 
most  primitive  form  of  Christianity,  we  may  add  a  word 
about  them.  Their  head-quarters  are  a  remote  and  rugged 
valley  in  Kurdistan,  on  the  banks  of  the  Greater  Zab.1 
Here  in  a  village  called  Kochannes  dwells  their  patriarch. 
Their  numbers  are  estimated  at  one  hundred  thousand. 
The  Persian  branch,  estimated  at  from  twenty-five  thousand 
to  thirty  thousand  members,  formally  joined  the  Orthodox 
Church  of  Russia  in  1898.2  Since  1450  the  patriarchal  dig- 
nity has  been  hereditary,  passing  from  uncle  to  nephew, 
not  according  to  age,  but  following  the  choice  of  the  family. 
The  candidate  must  be  a  celibate.  Not  only  should  he 
never  have  eaten  meat,  but  his  mother  should  have  followed 
a  vegetarian  diet  during  her  pregnancy  and  nursing.  The 
episcopate,  too,  is  quasi-hereditary,  and  Nestorian  bishops 
of  twelve  yeafll  and  younger  may  be  found.  Priests  may 
marry  even  after  ordination.  It  is  clear  that  the  Roman 
Church,  in  forming  a  united  branch  under  the  name  of 
Chaldeans  out  of  this  communion,  found  much  to  "reform" 
in  faith  and  practice. 

1  See  "The  Church  and  the  Eastern  Empire,"  op.  cit.,  p.  77.     Com- 
pare "  De  la  Situation  Le*gale  des  Sujets  Ottomans  non-Musulmans,  par 
le  comte  de  Jehay,"  pp.  32-33. 

2  See  article,  "Nestorians,"  in  the  "  New  International  Encyclopedia." 
According  to  other  estimates  the  number  of  perverts  is  much  less. 


THE  UNIATES  81 


IV.    THE  UNIATES 

In  any  survey  of  the  divisions  in  the  church  universal 
three  crucial  centuries  stand  out  clearly:  the  fifth,  the 
eleventh,  and  the  sixteenth.  The  fifth  century  saw  the 
entering  wedge  of  schism,  affecting,  however,  only  outly- 
ing portions  of  the  church,  though  affecting  these  perma- 
nently. The  eleventh  saw  a  definite  cleavage  in  the  main 
body,  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  branches.  The 
sixteenth  saw  the  split  in  the  Western  church,  resulting  in 
the  formation  of  the  various  Protestant  bodies.  The  early 
unity  of  the  church,  which,  in  spite  of  many  heresies  and 
some  minor  temporary  schisms,  had  remained  practically 
intact,  was  impaired  in  the  fifth  century  by  the  secession  of 
the  Syrian-Nestorian  body,  the  first  organized  of  the  hereti- 
cal churches  which  split  off  by  reason  of  dissent  from  the 
decisions  of  the  Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon.  In 
the  next  century  followed  the  Syrian-Jacobite,  Coptic,  and 
Armenian  schisms,  while  the  Monothelite  Maronites  ap- 
pear to  have  been  well  organized  by  the  close  of  the  seventh 
century.  The  two  Syrian  churches,  alone,  at  one  time 
threatened  to  outrank  the  main  body  of  Christians,  in 
numbers  if  not  in  influence,  but  any  fear  of  such  rivalry 
was  allayed  by  the  decline  of  the  powerful  Nestorian  com- 
munion in  the  eleventh  century.  In  the  meantime  the 
original  church  had  remained  united,  though  forming  two 
branches,  one  in  the  East,  with  the  four  independent 
Patriarchates  of  Constantinople,  Antioch,  Jerusalem,  and 
Alexandria,  and  the  other  in  the  West,  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Eastern 
prelates  the  Roman  dignitary  was  but  the  patriarch  of  the 
West  (a  title  still  borne  by  the  holy  father),  primus  inter 
pares  in  relation  to  themselves.  Such,  indeed,  was  their 
theory,  as  over  against  the  claims  to  papal  supremacy,  ad- 
vanced as  early  as  the  fifth  century  and  growing  more  arro- 
gant, though  still  vague,  until  they  were  definitely  formulated 
in  the  pontificate  of  Nicholas  I  (858-867),  who  recognized 
as  genuine  the  celebrated  false  decretals,  asserting  the 


82     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

doctrine  on  the  testimony  of  forged  documents,  purporting 
to  be  letters  and  decisions  of  the  early  bishops  of  Rome. 
Notwithstanding  their  theoretic  attitude  of  independence, 
the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  often  rivals  of  the  popes, 
did  in  sporadic  cases,  when  it  suited  their  convenience,  lend 
countenance  to  the  papal  claims  by  appeals  to  the  judgment 
and  authority  of  the  occupants  of  the  Roman  See,  especially 
in  regard  to  the  iconoclastic  controversy,  which  threatened 
to  split  the  Eastern  church  between  the  years  726  and  842. 
The  final  breach  between  the  East  and  the  West,  seriously 
threatened  in  the  ninth  century  under  the  leadership  of 
Photios,  Ecumenical  patriarch,  became  actual  in  1054, 
when  Leo  X  was  pope  and  Michael  Cerularius  was  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople.  The  council  then  held  at  the  East- 
ern capital  by  request  of  the  emperor,  Constantine  Mono- 
machus,  and  intended  to  adjust  differences,  which  by  that 
time  included  many  matters  besides  the  papal  supremacy,1 
came  to  nothing.  The  patriarch  definitely  refused  to  sub- 
mit to  the  pope's  authority,  while  the  papal  delegates,  be- 
fore departing  in  anger,  laid  upon  the  altar  of  Saint  So- 
phia a  terrible  sentence  of  anathema  on  Michael  and  his 
followers.  The  definite  nature  of  the  split  is  illustrated  in 
the  crusading  period  by  two  contemporary  lines  of  patri- 
archs over  the  Sees  of  Constantinople,  Antioch  and  Jeru- 
salem, respectively,  the  one  Greek,  the  other  Latin.  On 
the  other  hand,  this  period  witnessed  the  beginnings  of  one 
permanent  return  to  Rome,  when  in  1182  the  Monothelite 
Maronites  acknowledged  their  errors  to  the  Latin  Patriarch 
of  Antioch.  Various  attempts  at  reconciliation  between  the 
two  main  branches  of  the  church  were  made,  with  only  brief 
results.  The  last  found  voice  at  the  Councils  of  Ferrara 
and  Florence,  held  in  1438-1439.  At  the  closing  scenes  of 
the  Council  of  Florence  an  act  of  union  of  the  Eastern  and 
Western  churches  was  signed,  notwithstanding  the  fierce 
opposition  of  the  party  led  by  Mark,  Bishop  of  Ephesus. 

1  Besides  the  chief  points  of  difference — the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  or  filioque  clause,  the  papal  supremacy,  the  azyma,  purgatory, 
and  the  enforced  celibacy  of  the  clergy — such  minor  matters  as  the 
beards  of  the  priests  were  included. 


THE  UNIATES  83 

But  Rome  scored  only  a  paper  victory.  It  was  never  car- 
ried into  effect.  The  document  was  not  even  signed  by  the 
Patriarchs  of  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  prelates  intimately 
concerned  in  the  matter.  Paper  victory  though  it  was,  the 
Council  of  Florence  furnished  a  powerful  argument  for 
the  Roman  propaganda  to  recover  portions  of  the  lost 
adherents.1 

Roman  Catholic  missionary  activity  among  the  Eastern 
churches  was  stimulated  by  the  failure  of  the  Council  of 
Florence,  was  further  increased  by  the  founding  of  the 
Society  of  the  Jesuits  in  1543,  and  was  definitely  organ- 
ized under  the  Propaganda  of  the  Faith,  established  in 
1622  by  Pope  Gregory  XV.  The  work  of  proselytizing,  or, 
from  the  Roman  point  of  view,  the  work  of  restoring  to  the 
mother  church,  was  directed  not  only  toward  the  "schis- 
matical"  Greek  Church,  but  toward  the  "heretical"  na- 
tional churches,  whose  dissent  from  the  decisions  of  one  or 
another  of  the  general  councils  placed  them  in  a  different 
category  from  that  of  the  Greek  Church,  which  accepted 
them  all.  The  policy  adopted  in  all  cases  was  by  preach- 
ing Catholic  doctrine  to  honeycomb  a  given  church  until, 
through  individual  conversions,  a  sufficient  number  of  ad- 
herents, lay  and  clerical,  warranted  the  formation  of  a  sepa- 
rate body,  with  the  name  Catholic  added  to  the  original  name. 
Such  churches  share  the  general  name  of  Uniats  or  Uniates. 
It  has  always  been  assumed  that  any  given  union  with  Rome 
constitutes  an  actual  reunion,  a  return  to  an  early  allegiance 
that  had  been  forsworn  when  the  original  schism  was  effected. 
This  was  strongly  brought  out  in  1599  at  the  Synod  of 
Diamper,  which  was  convened  "  for  the  increase  of  Catholic 
faith  among  the  Syrians  of  Malabar,"  and  which  claimed 
to  put  an  end  to  a  separation  which  had  lasted  over  a  thou- 
sand years.2  The  basis  of  union  has  ever  been  submission 
to  papal  authority  and  acceptance  of  Catholic  doctrine.  In 

1  Before  the  Turkish  occupation  in  1453  nine  ruptures  and  renewals 
of  relations  between  the  Sees  of  Rome  and  Constantinople  have  been 
counted.     The  first  lasted  ninety-three  years,  from  489  to  582;  it  was 
concerned  with  matters  of  jurisdiction,  not  of  dogma. 

2  "The  Greek  and  Eastern  Churches,"  by  W.  F.  Adeney,  p.  529. 


84     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

return  for  this  double  allegiance,  the  following  concessions 
have  usually  been  made  by  Rome,  with  such  modifications 
as  the  main  basis  of  union  necessitated:  government  by 
the  local  hierarchy  under  papal  supervision;  retention  by 
a  given  church  of  its  ritual  in  the  sacred  language  or 
vernacular  of  that  church,  together  with  its  ecclesiastical 
customs  and  traditions;  permission  for  a  married  priest- 
hood. This  last-named  concession  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  historic  attitude  of  Rome  toward  the  celibacy  of  the 
clergy.  This  is  not  a  matter  of  doctrine,  which  is  im- 
mutable, but  of  discipline,  which  is  subject  to  regulation. 
While  maintaining  that  continence  is  a  more  holy  state 
than  matrimony,  and  that  celibacy  is  especially  desirable 
for  the  clergy,  the  Roman  church  has  not  felt  herself  ab- 
solutely bound  to  impose  it  on  her  ministers  at  all  times 
and  places,  nor  has  she  always  done  so.  As  early  as  the 
fourth  century  attempts  were  made  in  the  Western  church 
to  secure  an  unmarried  clergy;  but  even  as  late  as  the 
eleventh  century  synods  found  it  necessary  to  pronounce 
the  marriage  of  persons  in  holy  orders  not  only  unlawful 
but  invalid.  Toleration  toward  the  Uniats  in  this  matter 
is  thus  justified  by  a  similar  toleration  toward  the  Western 
clergy  in  earlier  days. 

As  a  rule  each  united  church  is  governed  by  its  own  local 
hierarchy,  under  the  supervision  of  an  apostolic  vicar  or 
delegate,  representing  the  Congregation  of  the  Propaganda. 
Since  1890  the  Apostolic  Vicar  of  Aleppo  has  been  resident 
in  Beyrout,  bearing  also  the  title  of  Apostolic  Delegate  in 
Syria  for  the  Orientals.  Under  his  general  jurisdiction, 
thus,  are  placed  the  Maronites,  the  Greek  Catholics,  the 
Syrian  Catholics,  and  the  Armenian  Catholics  found  in 
Syria.  His  position  as  between  the  local  ecclesiastics  on 
the  one  side  and  the  Turkish  Government  on  the  other  is 
delicate.  Being  necessarily  a  foreign  subject,  he  does  not 
share  with  the  Oriental  patriarchs,  nominally  under  his 
care,  the  privilege  of  direct  communication  with  the  Porte, 
nor  can  he  exercise  the  civil  or  administrative  functions 
which  they  enjoy.  His  duties  technically  require  him  to 
be  present  at  the  actual  election  of  the  Greek  Catholic 


THE  UNIATES  85 

patriarch,  but  as  the  Porte  objects  to  this  on  the  ground  of 
foreign  interference  in  a  matter  over  which  it  exercises  a 
certain  amount  of  control,  he  must  practically  content  him- 
self with  attending  the  ceremonies,  preceding  and  succeed- 
ing. The  election  of  any  united  patriarch  must  have  the 
confirmation  both  of  the  Porte  and  of  Rome.  Members 
of  the  united  churches  may,  for  their  own  advantage,  play 
patriarch  and  delegate  off  against  each  other.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Maronite  monks  of 
the  Congregation  of  the  Libnaniyeh  or  Beladiyeh  withdrew 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  patriarch,  placing  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  the  delegate.  It  is  said,  however, 
that  repentance  soon  followed  this  change  of  allegiance 
when  the  delegate  attempted  to  dictate  in  the  election  of 
the  abbott-general.  The  power  of  the  delegate  appears 
to  have  greatly  grown  since  1852,  when  Churchill  wrote  of 
his  influence  among  the  Maronites  as  being  slight,  and  re- 
ferred to  the  despotic  authority  of  the  patriarch,  against 
which  there  was  no  appeal.  Every  Maronite  enjoys  to-day 
the  right  of  final  appeal  to  Rome.  A  long-standing  quar- 
rel between  the  nobles  and  people  of  Rishmaya,  in  the 
Lebanon,  arising  from  the  insistence  of  the  sheikhs  on 
their  alleged  rights  to  bury  their  dead  in  the  parish  church, 
was  settled  at  Rome  in  favor  of  the  people. 

Papal  authority  in  Jerusalem  and  Palestine  is  exercised 
by  a  line  of  Latin  patriarchs,  re-established  as  a  local  insti- 
tution in  1847.  As  the  united  bodies  are  very  sparsely 
represented  in  the  Holy  Land  proper,  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  patriarch  is  chiefly  extended  over  the  Latin  community 
of  a  few  thousand  members,  consisting  of  Europeans,  of 
native  descendants  of  the  Crusaders,  and  of  other  natives 
whose  ancestors  were  Maronites.  The  custody  of  the  holy 
places  of  Palestine  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Franciscans,  whose 
immunities,  granted  by  the  Mameluke  sultans,  are  honored 
by  the  Ottomans. 

The  first  papal  missionary  work  on  a  large  scale  among 
the  Eastern  churches  appears  to  have  been  that  conducted 
among  the  Nestorians  of  Malabar,  to  which  reference  has 


86     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

been  made  in  this  and  in  the  previous  section.  In  its  early 
labors  the  papal  see  made  certain  demands  of  conformity  to 
Roman  practice  which  it  learned  later  to  abandon.  Thus, 
at  the  Synod  of  Diamper  (1599),  not  only  was  celibacy 
made  binding  on  the  Malabar  Catholic  clergy,  but  priests 
already  married  were  required  to  divorce  their  wives.  The 
Malabar  Catholic  Church  is  at  present  governed  directly 
by  three  resident  apostolic  vicars,  sent  from  Rome,  and 
thus  is  not  organically  connected  either  with  the  Syrian 
Chaldean  Church,  formed  by  a  split  among  the  Nestorians 
of  the  near  East,  or  with  the  Syrian  Catholic  Church,  de- 
rived from  the  Jacobite  Church,  to  which  the  non-united 
Syrians  of  Malabar  are  now  nominally  subject.  The  term 
Chaldean  was  applied  to  individual  converts  from  this  body 
as  early  as  1445,  soon  after  the  Council  of  Florence.  At  this 
council  a  closer  papal  union  with  the  Maronites  was  effected. 
The  present  line  of  Nestorian  Catholic  or  Chaldean  pa- 
triarchs of  Babylon  began  in  1681,  but  previously  there 
had  been  individual  patriarchs  who  acknowledged  papal 
authority.  The  beautiful  Armenian  Catholic  Convent  at 
Venice  witnesses  to  the  zeal  of  Mechitar,  a  pervert  from  the 
Armenian  Church,  who  became  active  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century  in  trying  to  reconcile  the  Arme- 
nian Church  to  the  papal  see.  The  establishment  of  the 
Armenian  Catholic  Community  at  Constantinople  was  not 
accomplished  without  a  bitter  struggle  with  the  old  Grego- 
rian Armenians.  The  Porte  took  first  one  side  and  then 
the  other,  issuing  decrees  of  banishment  against  the  papal 
missionaries  and  the  old  Armenians  alternately.  For  many 
years  the  new  community  was  under  the  spiritual  jurisdic- 
tion of  a  Latin  archbishop,  but  owing  to  pressure  from  the 
French  Government  the  Porte  in  1829  finally  authorized 
ecclesiastical  autonomy  under  a  chief  styled  Patriarch  of 
Cilicia.1  The  Coptic  Catholic  Church,  formed  in  1732,  has 
a  patriarch  resident  in  Alexandria.  The  united  Abyssinians 
are  subject  to  a  Latin  apostolic  vicar,  resident  among  them. 

1  A  valuable  account  of  the  formation  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Arme- 
nian community  may  be  found  in  the  "Turkish  Empire,"  vol.  II, 
pp.  133-152,  by  R.  R.  Madden  (London,  1862). 


THE  UNIATES  87 

Of  the  Uniat  bodies  represented  in  Syria,  the  Syrian 
Catholics,  the  Greek  Catholic  Melchites,  and  the  Maronites, 
the  two  last  are  practically  local  churches,  with  centres  in 
Syria  itself.  The  head  of  the  Syrian  Catholics,  however, 
though  styled  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  has  his  residence  at 
Mardin.  The  present  line  of  patriarchs  began  in  1783,  as 
a  result  of  the  Roman  propaganda  which  had  been  going 
on  among  the  Jacobites  for  some  time.1  The  Syrian  Catho- 
lic patriarch  is  elected  by  the  bishops  alone.  Before  he  can 
be  enthroned  he  must  be  confirmed  first  by  the  Porte  and 
then  by  Rome.  How  the  Syrian  Uniat  community  over- 
shadows the  Jacobite,  both  at  Damascus  and  Aleppo,  has 
been  already  indicated.  In  the  heart  of  the  Maronite  dis- 
trict, Kesrouan,  in  the  Lebanon,  is  the  Syrian  Catholic  mon- 
astery of  Deir-esh-Sherfi,  the  seat  of  a  theological  training- 
school.  A  similar  school  for  the  instruction  of  candidates 
for  the  Syrian  Catholic  priesthood  is  under  the  charge  of  the 
Benedictine  monastery,  situated  on  the  so-called  Mount  of 
Offence,  east  of  Jerusalem. 

The  split  in  the  Orthodox  communion  which  gave  rise  to 
two  contemporary  lines  of  patriarchs  of  Antioch,  each  fol- 
lowing the  Greek  rite,  the  one  called  Greek  Orthodox,  the 
other  Greek  Catholic  Melchite,  dates  from  1724.  This 
definite  schism  was  but  the  culmination  of  a  Roman  Catholic 
propaganda  which  began  as  early  as  1583,  when  the  pope, 
Sixtus  V,  sent  a  delegate  to  the  East  to  seek  for  terms 
of  union  which  might  be  more  successful  than  those  pro- 
posed almost  a  century  and  a  half  before  at  the  Council  of 
Florence.  This  embassy  was  a  failure.  But  what  direct 
diplomacy  could  not  effect  was  brought  about,  at  least 
partially,  by  the  quiet  and  persistent  work  of  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries,  thoroughly  organized,  by  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  Jesuit  and  Capuchin  fathers, 
highly  trained  for  the  work,  were  domiciled  among  the 
simple  Syrians,  whom  they  gradually  acquainted  with  the 
ideas  and  principles  of  the  Roman  Church.  By  force  of  a 

1 A  sketch  of  the  papal  propaganda  among  the  Syrians  may  be  found 
in  "Six  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery,"  by  O.  H.  Parry,  pp.  301  ff. 
Compare  with  page  75  of  this  present  work. 


88     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

genuine  conviction  of  the  righteousness  of  their  cause;  by 
assuming  authority  to  relax  the  system  of  Greek  fasts, 
whose  number  and  rigidity  far  exceeds  Western  practice; 
by  throwing  their  influence  at  the  right  moment,  this  way 
or  that,  in  local  disputes  concerning  the  election  to  ec- 
clesiastical office;  as  well  as  by  any  means  which  a  subtle 
knowledge  of  human  nature  might  suggest,  they  succeeded 
in  converting  or  perverting  to  Rome  numbers  of  laity 
and  clergy.  The  see  became  honeycombed  with  papal  ad- 
herents. Even  patriarchs  connived  at  the  propaganda, 
while  by  1686  four  bishops  had  actually  sent  in  their  sub- 
mission to  Rome.1 

The  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  half  century  preceding 
the  schism  of  1724  shows  passages  of  genuine  melodrama. 
Here  is  a  bewildering  succession  of  intrigue  and  counter- 
intrigue:  two  rival  patriarchs  of  Antioch,  Cyril  and  Atha- 
nasius,  backed  in  turn  by  the  Porte,  alternately  ousting  each 
other  from  the  see;  popes  of  Rome,  Circassian  janissaries, 
members  of  the  Holy  Synod  at  Constantinople,  all  taking  a 
hand  in  the  game;  bribery  freely  used  and  acknowledged; 
sudden  imprisonment  followed  by  dramatic  release;  and, 
finally,  a  cynical  compromise  between  the  two  prelates,  now 
both  advanced  in  years,  by  which  Cyril  keeps  the  throne, 
sharing  its  revenues  with  Athanasius,  who  is  promised  the 
right  of  succession.  Out  of  this  welter  of  events  a  few 
facts  emerge  with  tolerable  clearness.2  The  papal  see  had 
but  a  single  aim,  namely,  to  get  control  of  the  Patriarchate 
of  Antioch,  and  thus  favored  alternately  both  of  the  rival 
claimants,  according  as  each  might  show  ability  to  further 
the  cause.  Both  Cyril  and  Athanasius  were  determined  to 

1  See  Dr.  Wortabet's  chapter  on  the  Greek  Catholic  Church  in  his 
"Religion  in  the  East"  (London,  1860). 

a  The  story  of  this  stormy  period  is  told  in  a  highly  partisan  spirit 
in  two  separate  sets  of  chronicles  (found  in  Arabic  MSS.  in  the  library 
of  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission  at  Beyrout).  The  Orthodox 
chronicler  is  one  Bureik,  who  brings  his  account  down  to  1792.  The 
Greek  Catholic  chronicles  are  dated  1758,  and  are  by  the  Rev.  Yuhanna 
Ajaimeh,  who  calls  his  work  "The  Book  of  the  History  of  the  Sect 
[Tayyafeh]  in  Explanation  of  the  Affairs  of  the  Patriarchate  of  Anti- 
och." 


THE  UNIATES  89 

hold  the  throne  at  any  price.  Each  was  controlled  by  am- 
bition rather  than  by  conviction.  Each  vacillated  between 
Orthodox  and  Catholic  allegiance.  Cyril,  indeed,  after  the 
compromise  which  gave  him  the  throne  for  life,  formally 
presented  his  submission  to  the  pope  in  a  letter  sent  to 
Rome  along  with  his  crozier,  but  apparently  he  never 
frankly  declared  in  Damascus  for  the  Catholic  position. 
The  tergiversations  of  Athanasius  were  even  more  re- 
markable. Before  Cyril's  death,  in  1720,  he  had  appeared 
to  be  the  more  Catholic  of  the  two,  but  finding  himself  once 
more  patriarch,  he  proceeded  to  Constantinople,  where  he 
put  under  the  ban  the  whole  Western  church,  and  promised 
the  Holy  Synod  to  persecute  the  Catholics  on  his  return  to 
his  see.  Once  back  in  his  old  domains,  however,  he  repudi- 
ated the  Constantinople  promises,  at  the  same  time  defend- 
ing these  as  the  only  means  by  which  imminent  danger  was 
averted  from  the  Catholics  themselves.  And  yet  on  his 
death-bed,  four  years  later,  he  refused  to  make  a  Catholic 
confession  to  the  Jesuit  fathers. 

The  death  of  Athanasius  gave  the  Catholic  party  a  chance 
to  elect  a  candidate  whose  adhesion  to  the  cause  was  un- 
equivocal. About  the  same  time  members  of  the  Orthodox 
party,  doubtless  suspicious  of  the  fidelity  of  any  local  can- 
didate, sought  to  strengthen  their  greatly  enfeebled  cause 
by  delegating  their  rights  to  the  Synod  of  Constantinople, 
which  elected  as  Patriarch  of  Antioch  one  Sylvestre,  an 
"Ionian"  Bishop  of  Cyprus,  Greek  by  blood  and  speech. 
How  this  intrusion  of  a  foreign  element  changed  the  whole 
complexion  of  the  hierarchy  of  the  Orthodox  See  of  Antioch 
for  about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  years,  when  the 
native  element  again  came  into  full  control,  has  been  shown 
in  a  former  section.  Of  the  election  of  Seraphim  Tanas, 
the  Greek  Catholic  candidate  for  the  throne,  two  widely 
differing  accounts  were  early  circulated.  The  Greek  Cath- 
olics declare  that  it  was  conducted  with  perfect  legality  by 
order  of  the  governor  of  Damascus,  and  that  Seraphim 
was  ordained  as  Cyril  IV  in  the  Damascus  Cathedral  by 
three  bishops,  one  of  whom  had  been  especially  consecrated, 
so  that  the  canonical  number  of  three  might  be  present. 


90     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

The  Greek  chronicler  asserts  that  the  governor  was  bribed, 
while  the  ordination  was  most  irregularly  and  informally 
conducted  by  a  Capuchin  father.  The  tale  of  the  same 
writer  regarding  the  manner  of  the  consecration  of  Sera- 
phim as  bishop,  which  took  place  at  some  time  previous, 
appears  on  the  face  of  it  to  be  widely  improbable,  even 
for  those  feudal  times,  though  the  cautious  Dr.  Wortabet 
credits  it  "with  a  considerable  appearance  of  historical 
veracity."  1  According  to  this  legend,  the  priest  Seraphim 
engaged  the  powerful  interest  of  the  Emir  Heidar  Shehaab, 
a  Mohammedan  chieftain  of  the  Lebanon,  who  coerced 
three  bishops  of  Catholic  proclivities  to  take  Seraphim  off 
for  consecration.  The  party  was  driven  by  storm  into  a 
cave,  where  all  were  plied  with  wine  by  the  emir's  servants, 
who  threatened  to  kill  the  bishops  unless  they  carried  out 
the  chief's  orders  then  and  there.  Whereupon  the  prelates, 
terrified  and  half  intoxicated,  proceeded  to  consecrate  Tanas, 
addressing  him  at  the  same  time  with  the  extra-canonical 
words:  "O  thou  excommunicate!  Abhorred  of  God,  and 
full  of  evil!" 

Such  a  story,  whatever  its  basis,  serves  to  indicate  the 
fierce  and  bitter  nature  of  the  controversy  between  the 
Orthodox  and  Catholic  parties  in  the  See  of  Antioch.  Dis- 
credit is  thrown  on  the  consecration  of  other  Greek  Catholic 
bishops  by  further  tales  of  the  Greek  chronicler,  who  would 
thus  seek  to  disprove  the  validity  of  the  rival  priesthood  in 
general.  The  struggle  for  the  throne  of  Antioch  between 
Cyril  VI  and  Sylvestre  followed  many  of  the  methods  of  the 
previous  contest  between  Cyril  V  and  Athanasius,  but  dif- 
fered from  it  in  that  the  contestants  now  unequivocally 
represented  the  two  rival  parties.  It  would  be  idle  to  follow 
the  details  of  the  struggle.  The  outcome  was  the  recogni- 
tion of  Sylvestre  by  the  Porte  in  1728,  and  the  consequent 
exile  of  Cyril  from  Damascus,  where  he  had  held  the  throne 
for  over  three  years.  Sylvestre  signalized  his  triumph  by 
a  violent  persecution  of  the  Catholics,  which  led  to  his  own 
expulsion  from  the  see.  This  was  only  temporary,  and  in 
1731  he  seems  to  have  been  secure  on  the  throne.  His  ar- 

1  "Religion  in  the  East,"  foot-note  on  pp.  82-83. 


THE  UNIATES  91 

rogance  and  tactlessness  did  much  to  widen  the  breach 
which  it  was  hoped  he  might  heal.  Cyril,  who  had  settled 
in  Lebanon,  was  acknowledged  as  rightful  Greek  Patriarch 
of  Antioch  by  the  pope  in  1730,  receiving  the  pallium  from 
Rome  three  years  later.1  Before  his  death,  in  1760,  he  had 
organized  the  Greek  Catholics,  who  by  this  time  were  very 
numerous,  into  a  separate  community,  with  a  distinct  hier- 
archy of  their  own.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Porte,  however,  the 
sect  continued  to  be  under  Orthodox  jurisdiction  till  1831, 
when  it  was  officially  associated  with  the  Armenian  Catholic 
community.  Since  1848  the  government  has  recognized 
the  Greek  Catholic  patriarch  as  representing  a  separate 
body.  The  full  name  of  the  communion,  Greek  Catholic 
Melchite,  is  due  to  the  revival  of  an  early  title  applied  in 
the  fifth  century  to  that  party  in  the  Patriarchate  of  Antioch, 
which  accepted  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon, 
promulgated  by  the  Emperor  Marcion.  Melchites,  then, 
constituted  the  king's  party,  as  over  against  the  Mardaites, 
or  Rebels,  who  persisted  in  heresy.  After  the  Arab  con- 
quest the  term  was  used  to  describe  the  Syrian  Greeks  in 
general,  but  later  became  obsolete. 

By  the  schism  of  1724  the  Orthodox  community  of  the 
Patriarchate  of  Antioch  was  greatly  weakened.  Writing 
of  the  Greek  Catholics  as  late  as  1860,  Dr.  Wortabet  de- 
clared: "In  Aleppo,  Damascus,  Sidon,  and  Tyre  they  de- 
cidedly predominate  over  all  other  Christian  sects  in  number, 
wealth,  and  influence.  The  most  intelligent  men  in  Syria, 
those  whose  views  are  most  liberal,  are  found  in  this  com- 
munion." 2  In  the  last  fifty  years  the  status  of  the  Greek 
Orthodox  and  of  the  Maronites  has  risen,  so  that  such  a 
comparison  no  longer  holds  true,  but  the  Greek  Catholics 
continue  to  form  a  body  of  much  influence  in  the  Lebanon 
and  elsewhere. 

The  two  Greek  communions  in  Syria  take  two  diamet- 
rically opposed  views  of  church  history.  Though  each  calls 
the  other  schismatic,  each  regards  its  own  patriarch  as  the 
direct  descendant  of  Saint  Peter,  the  founder  of  the  see, 

1  Jehay  (op.  cit.}  dates  the  sending  of  the  pallium  at  1744. 

2  "Religion  in  the  East,"  pp.  84-86. 


92     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

through  a  chain  which  is  identical  up  to  1724.  The  Ortho- 
dox hold  that  before  the  great  schism  of  1054,  notwith- 
standing the  growing  pretensions  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to 
supremacy,  the  four  patriarchs  of  the  East  had  remained 
independent  of  the  patriarch  of  the  West,  as  well  as  of 
each  other.  This  independence  was  naturally  accentuated 
by  the  great  schism.  Accordingly  they  maintain  that  the 
split  of  1724  was  caused  by  the  desertion  of  such  members 
of  the  Orthodox  Church  as  yielded  to  the  unlawful  claims 
of  the  Roman  See.  The  Greek  Catholics  declare  that  from 
the  rise  of  the  church  to  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  the 
entire  Greek  communion  was  perfectly  Catholic,  acknowl- 
edging the  pope  as  its  head.  The  schismatic  movement 
which  began  with  Photios  in  848,  which  culminated  in  the 
definite  schism  of  1054,  and  which  continued  to  persist, 
notwithstanding  the  attempted  reconciliation  at  the  Coun- 
cil of  Florence  in  1439,  at  no  period  prevented  .many  in- 
dividuals in  the  Orthodox  Church  from  acknowledging 
their  allegiance  to  Rome.  Thus  there  has  always  been  a 
distinctly  Catholic  party  in  the  See  of  Antioch,  which  from 
time  to  time  has  included  even  patriarchs  among  its  num- 
bers. The  open  submission  of  Cyril  VI  to  the  pope  was 
but  the  official  acknowledgment  of  a  claim  which  had  ever 
been  valid,  but  which  had  been  denied  for  many  centuries 
by  the  Patriarchate  of  Antioch  as  a  whole.  Thus  from 
the  Greek  Catholic  point  of  view  the  schism  of  1724  effected 
the  restoration  to  Rome  of  the  ancient  church  founded  at 
Antioch  by  Saint  Peter. 

By  this  assumption  the  Greek  Catholics  claim  a  unique 
position  among  the  Uniat  bodies.  They  regard  the  Syrian 
Catholic  and  Maronite  Patriarchs  of  Antioch  as  possessing 
merely  courtesy  titles.  "National  dignitaries,  recognized 
as  such  by  Rome,"  so  a  learned  Greek  Catholic  archi- 
mandrite described  them  in  a  recent  conversation.  This 
contention  has  doubtless  been  responsible  for  the  conserva- 
tism shown  by  the  sect  in  refusing  to  adopt  most  of  those 
Western  customs  which  in  late  times  the  Maronites  have 
so  easily  assimilated,  although  the  Maronite  Church  was 
not  only  purely  Eastern  in  origin,  but  continued  to  remain 


THE  UNIATES  93 

so  for  some  centuries  after  the  union  with  Rome.  For 
almost  a  century  and  a  quarter  after  the  submission  of 
their  patriarch  to  the  pope,  the  Greek  Catholics  continued 
to  follow  the  Eastern  calendar,  thus  observing  the  fixed 
feasts  twelve  days  later  than  the  Roman  church,  with  which 
they  were  supposed  to  be  in  full  communion,  and,  cele- 
brating Easter  also  at  a  different  date,  save  on  such  rare 
occasions  when  the  movable  feasts  of  the  paschal  week 
happened  to  coincide.  The  sudden  order  issued  by  the 
patriarch  in  1857  to  his  bishops,  commanding  them  to 
enforce  the  celebration  of  Easter  at  the  same  time  with  the 
Latins,  threatened  to  disrupt  the  Greek  Catholic  commun- 
ion. This  order  involved  the  adoption  of  the  whole  Roman 
calendar.  Two  parties  were  at  once  formed:  one  in  sup- 
port of  the  patriarch,  the  other  in  defiant  rebellion.  This 
controversy  troubled  the  peace  of  the  Greek  Catholic 
Church  for  a  number  of  years.  The  seceders  secured  two 
churches  in  Beyrout  and  Damascus,  with  the  intention  of 
establishing  a  new  rite  under  the  name  of  Oriental  Greeks, 
but  in  1865  they  decided  to  follow  the  example  of  the  Syrian 
and  Armenian  Catholics  and  of  the  Maronites,  and  joined 
the  patriarch's  party  in  celebrating  Easter  of  that  year  ac- 
cording to  the  Roman  calendar.1 

This  concession  to  Western  practice,  however,  has  not 
altered  the  essential  Eastern  character  of  the  Greek  Catholic 
Church.  Members  of  the  local  hierarchy  jealously  guard 
against  attempts  at  encroachment  on  their  rights  which 
they  suspect  the  Jesuits  and  other  Latin  orders  of  enter- 
taining. Their  theology  is  tridentine,  but  not  so  their 
discipline  and  ritual.  The  two  Greek  communions  use 
practically  the  same  service  books,  though  the  Greek  Catho- 
lics have  slightly  altered  some  of  the  prayers.  A  Roman 
Catholic  would  find  it  hard  to  detect  any  difference,  as  be- 
tween the  two  Greek  communions,  in  the  interior  arrange- 
ment of  churches,  in  the  conduct  of  services,  and  in  the 
ordinary  appearance  and  ecclesiastical  vestments  of  the 
clergy.  Differences  there  are,  but  covering  minor  matters 

1  See  de  Jehay  (op.  cit.\  p.  274,  and  "Religion  in  the  East,"  by  Dr. 
John  Wortabet,  pp.  98-100. 


94     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

of  detail.  For  example,  during  the  larger  part  of  the  ser- 
vices, the  Orthodox  draw  curtains  before  all  the  entrances  to 
the  ikonostasis,  which  in  the  Eastern  churches  screens  off 
the  sanctuary  from  the  body  of  the  church,  or  close  the  en- 
trance with  actual  doors;  in  the  Greek  Catholic  churches 
the  entrances  are  kept  open,  save  that  in  some  cases  a  cur- 
tain is  drawn  across  the  central  opening  before  the  high 
altar.  Again,  the  Orthodox  clergy  never  cut  the  hair,  while 
the  Greek  Catholic  priests  are  permitted  to  wear  it  short, 
though  they  are  at  liberty  to  follow  the  old  custom  if  policy 
so  directs. 

Eastern  though  the  Greek  Catholic  Church  essentially 
remains,  the  influence  of  Rome  can  be  traced  in  many 
ways.  At  present  the  patriarch  is  elected  by  the  bishops  in 
conclave  (subject  to  confirmation  from  Rome,  as  well  as 
from  the  Porte),  thus  following  the  method  used  in  papal 
elections,  as  over  against  the  more  Eastern  method  of  elec- 
tion by  popular  vote  of  the  chief  men  of  the  see,  which  ap- 
pears to  have  been  followed  by  the  sect  as  late  as  I860.1 
Again,  in  the  matter  of  a  married  priesthood,  a  right  re- 
served to  the  Uniat  bodies,  there  may  be  observed  among 
the  Greek  Catholics  (though  not  as  strongly  as  among  the 
Maronites)  a  growing  tendency  to  conform  to  the  Western 
practice  of  a  celibate  clergy.  This  appears  to  be  the  result 
of  example  rather  than  of  direct  precept.  A  French  father 
in  the  theological  seminary  conducted  in  Jerusalem  under 
the  supervision  of  the  White  Fathers  of  Africa,  for  the  train- 
ing of  the  Greek  Catholic  priesthood,  informed  me  that  no 
pressure  whatever  was  brought  to  bear  on  the  students  to 
influence  them  against  marrying  before  ordination,  though 
as  a  matter  of  fact  no  graduate  ever  had  married.  In  this 
matter  of  education  by  which  the  parish  clergy  of  the 
Greek  Catholics  are  superior  to  those  of  the  Orthodox,  may 
also  be  traced  the  influence  of  Rome.  Besides  the  Jerusalem 
training-school,  the  Greek  Catholics  have  a  theological 
college  at  the  Propaganda  at  Rome  under  the  care  of  the 
Benedictines.  The  patriarchal  college  at  Beyrout  provides 
a  general  education  for  boys.  One  of  the  first  printing- 

1  See  Dr.  Wortabet's  "Religion  in  the  East,"  p.  86. 


THE  UNIATES  95 

presses  ever  used  in  Syria  was  established  by  this  sect  at 
Shweir,  a  village  in  the  heart  of  the  Lebanon.  Before  the 
second  half  of  the  last  century  many  very  valuable  books 
had  been  issued  from  this  modest  establishment.1  Among 
their  patriarchs,  the  Greek  Catholics  can  rightfully  boast 
of  at  least  one  man  unusually  distinguished  in  talent  and 
learning:  Maximus  IV,  commonly  known  as  Maximus 
Muzlum,  who  died  in  1856. 

The  Greek  Catholics  have  held  four  general  councils  or 
synods.2  The  acts  of  the  first,  summoned  in  1806,  were 
cancelled  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  The  canons  enacted  by 
the  second,  held  during  that  same  year,  were  confirmed. 
These  continued  to  regulate  the  church  till  1909,  as  the  acts 
of  a  third  council,  held  at  Jerusalem  in  1849,  had  been 
annulled  by  Rome.  At  Whitsuntide,  1909,  the  patriarchs 
and  bishops  again  met  in  general  council  at  Ain  Trez,  a 
monastery  in  the  Lebanon  which  had  been  the  seat  of  the 
patriarch  till  this  was  moved  to  Damascus.3  At  this  time 
all  the  canons  of  the  church  were  overhauled.4 

The  papal  propaganda  among  the  members  of  the  Greek 
Church  in  Turkey-in-Asia  was  concentrated  in  the  ancient 
Patriarchate  of  Antioch,  where  it  was  practically  confined. 
The  Greek  Catholic  Church  has  a  bishop  resident  at  Acre, 
in  the  north  of  the  Orthodox  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem, 
but  the  Greeks  of  the  district  are  mostly  Orthodox.  Small 
bodies  of  Greek  converts  to  Rome  in  the  See  of  Constan- 
tinople were  organized  in  1861  under  the  name  of  "Greco 
Puro,"  subject  to  an  apostolic  delegate  resident  at  the 
capital.  There  are  also  bodies  of  united  Greeks  in  Rus- 
sia, Austria,  and  Bulgaria.5  There  is  a  Greek  Catholic 
colony  in  Calabria,  said  to  consist  of  descendants  of  those 


1  See  Dr.  Wortabet's  "Religion  in  the  East,"  p.  85. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  88-96.     Also  de  Jehay,  p.  277. 

3  The  patriarch  at  present  occasionally  takes  up  his  residence  in  Egypt, 
where  his  church  has  a  considerable  following. 

4  Confirmation  from  Rome  had  not  yet  been  received  up  to  the  sum- 
mer of  1911. 

6  Consult  "La  Gerarchia  Cattolica"  (year-book  of  the  Catholic  clergy), 
pp.  26-27  (Roma,  Tipographia  Vaticana). 


96     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

who  immigrated  from  Albania  at  the  time  of  Scander-beg, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Thus,  in  Italy 
istelf,  in  the  very  shadow  of  Rome,  there  exists  a  community, 
fully  loyal  to  the  pope  and  yet  possessing  a  married  clergy. 

V.  THE  MARONiTES1 

Among  the  Uniates  the  Maronites  occupy  a  distinct  place. 
Alone  of  all  these  bodies  they  represent  an  Eastern  church 
which  has  given  its  allegiance  to  Rome  in  its  entirety.  The 
Greek  Church  in  Syria  and  Palestine  is  only  one-third  papal. 
The  Maronite  Church  of  the  Lebanon,  though  more  truly 
national,  both  by  reason  of  its  history  and  of  its  present  con- 
dition, is  wholly  ultramontane.  It  is  a  strict  tradition  that 
the  Maronite  patriarch,  as  lord  of  the  Lebanon,  should 
never  leave  his  mountain  rocks,  but  this  tradition  must  be 
set  aside  if  a  summons  comes  from  Rome.  With  the 
Maronites,  the  elements  of  home  rule  and  imperial  loyalty 
have  been,  for  the  most  part,  firmly  united.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  wisdom,  tact,  adaptability,  and  diplomacy 
have  never  worked  more  successfully  than  they  have  in  the 
dealings  of  the  See  of  Rome  with  the  proud  and  independent 
mountaineers,  who  as  late  as  1850  cried,  "  Our  patriarch  is 
our  sultan!"  when  the  Turkish  Government  threatened  to 
interfere  in  their  internal  affairs.  Thoroughly  Eastern  in 
origin,  the  Maronites  are  to-day  more  Western  than  any 
other  united  body,  but  Rome  has  never  forced  innovations 
upon  them.2  When  in  1584  a  Maronite  theological  semi- 
nary was  established  at  Rome,  the  ritual  and  practice  of  the 
Maronite  Church  differed  little  from  the  Jacobite.  One  hun- 

1  In  preparing  this  section,  which  contains  considerable  new  material, 
I  have  used  freely  my  more  elaborate  article  entitled  "The  Maronites," 
printed  in  the  Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund 
for  1892.     The  paper  has  the  following  sub-sections:     I.  The  Mar- 
onites and  the  Lebanon.     II.  The  Clergy,  Churches,  and  Schools.     III. 
The  Monasteries.     IV.  The  Ritual.     V.  The  Calendar.     Material  from 
the  article  is  also  used  in  the  next  section  and  chapter. 

2  Note  on  p.  102  the  statement  that  Pope  Paul  V,  in  1610,  actually 
requested  the  Maronite  patriarch  to  restore  certain  ancient  Eastern 
practices  that  had  been  abandoned. 


THE  MARONITES  97 


dred  and  fifty  years  later  at  the  Maronite  Council  of  the 
Lebanon  it  was  enacted  that  resident  students  should  be  for- 
bidden to  receive  the  sacraments  of  confirmation  and  ordina- 
tion by  any  rite  except  their  own,  while  all  those  whose 
loyalty  to  their  own  church  was  doubted  should  be  instantly 
sent  back  to  the  Lebanon.1  The  especial  reference,  of  course, 
was  to  the  temptation,  ever  before  the  students,  to  become 
Latinized.  The  acts  of  this  council  were  ratified  by  the  papal 
see.  But  already  in  the  century  and  a  half  which  had 
elapsed  since  the  founding  of  the  college,  the  Maronite 
Church  itself  had  been  brought  into  closer  harmony  with  the 
Latin,  through  the  influence  of  graduates  of  this  very  insti- 
tution, returning  to  positions  of  ecclesiastical  authority  at 
home.  Rome  had  rightly  calculated  on  the  subtle  influence 
of  her  environment.  The  Gregorian  calendar  was  adopted 
in  1606.  Other  changes  followed.  How  far  this  Romanizing 
tendency  has  proceeded  can  be  illustrated  to-day  by  a  com- 
parison between  the  interiors  of  a  Roman  Catholic  and  a 
Maronite  Church  in  the  same  city,  where  no  essential  dif- 
ference between  the  two  can  be  observed.  In  both  churches 
mass  is  said  in  full  view  of  the  congregation.  Certain 
ruined  Maronite  Churches  in  Batrun,  where  the  typically 
Eastern  ikonostasis  (or  screen  dividing  the  sanctuary  from 
the  nave)  remains,  emphasizes  the  difference  between  past 
and  present.  While  the  use  of  old  liturgies  is  freely  per- 
mitted, the  daily  mass  now  usually  employed  is  a  Syriac 
adaptation  from  the  Latin  mass.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Eastern  services  for  baptism,  marriage,  burial,  as  well  as 
for  feast-days,  are  largely  retained.  Further  signs  of  con- 
formity to  Roman  practice  are  shown  by  the  use  of  the 
unleavened  wafer  in  communion;  in  the  abandonment  of 
triple  immersion  in  baptism;  and  in  the  administration 
of  the  sacrament  of  confirmation  in  later  years,  instead 
of  causing  it  to  follow  immediately  after  baptism.  This 
Romanizing  process  distinguishes  the  Maronites  from  all 
other  Uniate  bodies.  With  the  Syrian  Catholics  the  present 


1 1  was  recently  informed  by  the  head  of  the  school  in  Rome  that 
this  rule  is  still  in  force. 


98     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

tendency  is  to  restore  such  few  ancient  practices  as  they  had 
abandoned. 

And  yet  with  all  their  conformity  to  Rome,  the  Maron- 
ites  are  proud  of  their  national  church;  proud  of  their 
Syriac  and  Arabic  ritual;  proud  of  such  ancient  practices 
as  they  still  retain.  Marun,  their  alleged  founder,  and 
Mar  Yuhanna  Marun,  their  first  patriarch,  are  still  their 
patron  saints,  though  neither  has  been  canonized  by  the 
holy  see.  This  very  confidence  of  solidarity  may  account 
for  the  ease  with  which  they  have  adopted  certain  Western 
ways.  Abandonment  of  established  ritual  and  practice  on 
the  part  of  united  Greeks  or  Syrians  would  tend  to  a  loss 
of  identity;  would  advertise  a  visible  departure  from  tradi- 
tions still  observed  by  the  Jacobite  and  Orthodox  bodies, 
from  whom  they  respectively  separated  merely  on  the 
ground  of  ecclesiastical  allegiance,  and  a  few  points  of 
theology,  while  professing  to  differ  from  them  in  no  other 
way.  No  outward  conformity  on  our  part,  the  Maronites 
may  be  conceived  to  say,  can  alter  the  fact  that  we  are  the 
Maronite  Church,  we  are  the  Maronite  nation. 

It  is  as  a  nation,  though  as  a  nation  repentant  of  "heresy" 
and  desirous  of  reunion  with  Rome,  that  the  Maronites 
first  clearly  emerge  into  history,  through  the  pages  of 
William,  Latin  Archbishop  of  Tyre,  who  began  his  famous 
work  on  the  Crusades  about  the  year  1183,  while  the 
Franks  still  held  the  Holy  City.  That  their  annals  previous 
to  this  are  for  the  most  part  obscure,  a  fact  plain  to  the 
impartial  student,  was  acknowledged  to  me  even  by  a 
Maronite  ecclesiastic  prominent  in  the  work  of  education? 
It  is  clear,  however,  that  toward  the  end  of  the  seventh 
century  the  warlike  Syrian  Christians  of  the  Lebanon 
were  called  Mardaites  or  Rebels,  thus  being  distinguished 
from  the  Melchites,  or  Royalists,  whose  descendants  are  the 
present  members  of  the  Greek  communions.  These  moun- 
taineers were  further  called  Maronites,  but  it  is  a  question 
whether  they  owe  their  name  to  one  Abbott  Marun,  who  is 
said  to  have  died  in  the  year  400,  or  to  their  first  patriarch, 
Yunanna  Marun  (John  Maro),  whom  they  claim  to  have 

1  See  foot-note  1  to  p.  135,  regarding  the  origin  of  this  doctrine. 


THE  MARONITES  99 

been  chosen  in  the  year  685,  and  who  died  in  707.1  Most 
Maronites  trace  their  name  to  this  abbott,  whose  memory  is 
still  connected  with  the  remains  of  a  monastery  near  the 
source  of  the  Orontes,  which  is  said  to  have  been  erected  on 
the  spot  where  he  once  lived.2  While  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  "abbott"  is  mythical,  it  may  be  taken  to  be  a  matter  of 
history  that  Yuhanna  Marun  was  the  first  patriarch  of  the 
Maronites.  The  learned  Josephus  Assemanus  (to  use  the 
Latinized  form  of  Yusif  es-Sim'any),  in  his  "Bibliotheca 
Orientalis,"  a  ponderous  work  in  four  tomes  (1719-1728), 
not  only  defends  the  first  Maronite  patriarch  from  the 
charge  of  heresy,  but  declares  that  "  he  cultivated  the  vine 
of  the  Lord  so  faithfully  in  the  shores  of  Phoenicia  as  to 
bring  into  obedience  to  the  Church  of  Rome  many  Mono- 
physites  and  Monothelites."  3  This  is  not  the  place  to  dis- 
cuss in  detail  a  purely  academic  question,  which  my  Maron- 
ite clerical  friend  acknowledged  could  be  defended  by  good 
arguments  on  both  sides;  for  the  Maronites,  whatever  they 
may  have  once  believed,  have  been  loyal  to  Catholic  doc- 
trine for  over  seven  hundred  years.  The  arguments  relative 
to  the  question  whether  or  not  they  ever  held  the  Monoth- 
elite  idea  of  the  nature  of  Christ  have  been  elaborately 
presented,  in  accordance  with  the  given  point  of  view,  both 
by  the  late  Joseph  Dibs,  Maronite  Bishop  of  Beyrout, 
naturally  maintaining  "perpetual  orthodoxy,"  and  by  the 
late  Joseph  David,  Syrian  Catholic  Bishop  of  Damascus, 
antagonizing  the  claim.4  The  Maronite  partisans  are  able 
to  quote  the  authority  of  Pope  Benedict  IV,  who  declared 

1  Dr.  Wortabet  argues  that  the  name  Maronites  was  used  prior  to 
the  name  Mardaites,  as  the  Lebanese  were  called  Rebels  in  consequence 
of  their  persisting  in  the  heresy  of  Marun.     ("Religion  in  the  East," 
p.  104.) 

2  Dr.  Robinson  describes  these  remains  in  his  famous  "Researches," 
vol.  Ill,  p.  539. 

'"Bibliotheca  Orientalis,"  tome  I,  cap.  43,  pp.  496  if.  Cf.  my 
article  on  "The  Maronites,"  op.  ciL,  p.  129. 

4  See  "La  Perpetuelle  Orthodoxie  des  Maronites,"  translation  by 
T.  Vazeux  of  an  Arabic  work  by  Dibs,  Arras,  1896;  also  an  Arabic  work 
by  Joseph  David,  with  the  subtitle  in  French :  "  Recueil  de  documents 
et  de  preuves  contre  la  pretendue  orthodoxie  perpetuelle  des  Maron- 
ites." (For  sale  in  Cairo.) 


100    CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

(1774)  that  near  the  end  of  the  seventh  century  when  the 
Monothelite  heresy  threatened  to  overwhelm  the  Patriarch- 
ate of  Antioch,  the  Maronites  secured  the  election  of  a 
patriarch  who  was  confirmed  in  office  from  Rome,  receiving 
the  dignity  of  the  pallium.1  But  even  granting  what  is  de- 
cidedly open  to  doubt,  namely,  that  this  pope  was  correct 
in  his  statement  regarding  the  papal  confirmation  of  the 
election  of  John  Maro,  which  took  place  more  than  one 
thousand  years  before  he  wrote,  the  contemporary  testi- 
mony of  William  of  Tyre  to  the  condition  of  the  Maronites 
in  the  twelfth  century  proves  that  the  nation  had  long  been 
in  a  state  of  heresy  and  schism.  Here  is  a  translation  of  the 
passage  from  the  prolix  Latin  of  the  period. 

"In  the  meantime,  while  the  kingdom  [the  Latin  king- 
dom of  Jerusalem]  rejoiced  in  temporal  peace,  as  we  have 
said  before,  a  certain  nation  of  Syrians  in  the  province 
of  Phoenicia,  dwelling  in  the  region  of  the  heights  of  the 
Lebanon,  near  the  city  of  Byblos,  experienced  a  great  change 
in  their  condition.  For  while  they  had  for  almost  five  hun- 
dred years  so  followed  the  error  of  a  certain  arch-heretic, 
named  Maro,  as  to  be  called  Maronites;  and,  being  es- 
tranged from  the  church  of  the  faithful,  had  maintained 
a  separate  worship,  returning  now,  through  divine  influence, 
to  a  sound  mind,  by  shaking  off  their  lethargy,  they  joined 
themselves  to  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  Aimericus,  who  was 

1  Quoted  by  Pere  S.  Vailhe  in  his  recent  article,  "  Origines  Reli- 
gieuses  des  Maronites,"  found  in  the  "Echos  d'Orient,"  tome  IV  (1901). 
Tomes  VI  and  VII  contain  articles  by  the  same  author,  dealing  with 
different  phases  of  the  question;  that  in  the  former  being  an  answer 
to  Dibs's  work,  above  mentioned.  The  Maronite  literature  regarding 
the  subject  is  considerable.  As  early  as  1679  Faustus  Nairon  published 
in  Rome  an  elaborate  treatise  entitled  "  De  Origine  ac  Religione  Maron- 
itarum."  Other  works  are  by  Gabriel  Sionita,  Stephen  Edenensis, 
Abraham  Echelensis,  G.  Notain  Der'auni,  etc.  The  work  of  the  last- 
named  author  entitled  "Cerenici  Storici  sulla  Nazione  Siro-Maronita," 
published  in  Livorno  (Leghorn)  in  1890,  attempts  to  prove  that  the 
true  succession  to  the  chair  of  Antioch  is  exclusively  in  the  line  of 
the  Maronite  patriarchs.  In  the  prints  of  Yuhanna  Marun,  found  in 
the  ecclesiastical  books,  he  is  represented  as  a  patriarch  in  full  canon- 
icals, treading  under  foot  a  half-naked  man,  representing  heresy,  who 
grasps  an  open  book  from  which  a  serpent  is  crawling. 


THE  MARONITES  i'Jl 

the  third  Latin  prelate  to  preside  over  this  church;  and 
abjuring  their  error,  which  had  all  too  long  and  danger- 
ously bound  them,  they  reverted  to  the  unity  of  the  Catholic 
church,  accepting  the  Orthodox  faith,  prepared  to  embrace 
and  observe  with  all  reverence  the  traditions  of  the  Roman 
church.  Now,  this  was  no  small  body  of  people,  but  was 
said  to  exceed  the  number  of  forty  thousand,  who,  as  we 
have  said  before,  inhabited  the  dioceses  of  Byblos,  Botrys, 
and  Tripolis,  on  the  heights  and  slopes  of  Mount  Lebanon; 
they  were  mighty  men,  and  strenuous  in  arms,  very  useful 
to  us  by  reason  of  the  important  engagements  which  they 
very  often  had  with  the  enemy;  hence  also  their  conversion 
to  the  pure  faith  gave  us  the  greatest  joy.  Now,  the  error 
of  Maro  and  his  followers  is  and  was,  as  is  stated  by  the 
Sixth  Synod,  .  .  .  chat  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  there  is 
and  has  been  from  the  beginning  but  one  will  and  opera- 
tion." In  this  return  to  Rome,  so  adds  our  somewhat 
long-winded  archbishop,  the  people  were  led  by  the  patri- 
arch and  some  bishops.1 

This  testimony  from  one  who  should  be  an  authority 
on  church  matters  is  almost  contemporary  with  the  event 
chronicled.  William  of  Tyre  began  his  "History"  in  1183, 
and  the  alleged  conversion  may  be  dated  at  about  1182 
by  comparing  the  context  with  the  "Life  of  Saladin," 
by  Beha  ed  Din,  where  contemporary  events  are  dated. 
Jacques  de  Vitry,  consecrated  Bishop  of  Acre  in  1217, 
repeats  the  story.  He,  however,  testifies  in  detail  to  the 
addiction  of  the  Maronites  to  Roman  practice  in  his  day, 
and  states  that  their  patriarch  was  present  at  the  Lateran 
Council  of  1216.2  The  union  with  Rome  was  further 

1  This  quotation  is  from  book  XXII,  cap.  viii,  of  the  "  History  of 
William  of  Tyre,"  found  on  pp.  1021  and  1022  of  the  collection  of 
Bongars,  called  "GestaDei  per  Francos,"  etc.  (Hanover,  1611).     The 
full  title  of  William's  work  is:  "Incipit  Historia  Rerum  in  Partibus 
Transmarinis  Gestarum  a  Tempore  Successorum  Mahumeth,  usque  ad 
Annum  Domini  MCLXXXIV.     Edita  a  venerabili  Willermo  Tyrensi, 
Archiepiscopo. ' ' 

2  See  his  "Historia  Hierosolymitana,"  LXXVII,  found  in  the  "Gesta 
Dei  per  Francos,"  op  tit.     English  translation  in  vol.  XI  of  the  works 
of  the  Palestine  Pilgrim's  Text  Society. 


.102;CONSTrriJTI6N.OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

strengthened  at  the  Council  of  Florence,  in  1439,  when  the 
Maronites  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  Rome  in  eccle- 
siastical discipline.  After  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury the  papal  see  kept  careful  watch  on  the  Maronites. 
In  1562  Pope  Pius  IV  granted  authority  to  the  patriarch  to 
absolve  certain  heretics  of  the  Maronite  nation.  In  1577 
Gregory  XIII  sent  to  the  patriarch  an  Arabic  translation 
of  the  decrees  and  canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Paul  V 
in  1610  wrote  the  patriarch  concerning  the  restoration  of 
certain  Maronite  rites,  not  contrary  to  Catholic  doctrine, 
which  the  latter  had  changed.  In  1713  Clement  XI  de- 
clared the  deposition  of  the  patriarch  null  and  void  com- 
manding the  bishops  to  yield  him  subjection.  In  1736  the 
Maronites  held  a  general  council  in  the  Lebanon,  author- 
ized by  Clement  XII.1  No  wonder,  in  view  of  such  an 
accumulation  of  documentary  evidence  as  to  the  relations 
of  the  Maronites  with  the  holy  see,  that  members  of  the 
nation,  almost  without  exception,  sturdily  maintain  the  his- 
torical position  of  "perpetual  orthodoxy"  of  their  church 
from  the  earliest  times,  even  in  the  face  of  the  testimony 
of  William  of  Tyre,  which  to  impartial  students,  includ- 
ing many  Catholics,  appears  to  offer  proof  positive  to  the 
contrary. 

No  historic  question  could  be  more  complicated  than  that 
of  the  ethnic  relations  of  the  present  inhabitants  of  Syria 
and  Palestine.  It  is,  however,  almost  universally  acknowl- 
edged that  the  Maronites  are  the  descendants  of  the  early 
dwellers  on  the  slopes  of  the  Lebanon,  with  but  little  ad- 
mixture of  other  strains  of  blood.  The  Maronites  them- 
selves believe  that  their  race  accepted  Christianity  at  its 
first  teaching.  Renan  appears  to  stand  alone  in  the  posi- 
tion that  '''the  Lebanon  is  truly  the  tomb  of  an  old-world 
gone-by,  which  has  disappeared  body  and  soul.  A  total 
substitution  of  race,  language,  and  religion  has  taken  place. 
Maronites,  Greeks,  Metawileh,  Druses,  Moslems,  Arabs, 

1  These  references  are  to  documents  reproduced  at  the  end  of  the 
Latin  version  of  the  acts  of  the  Lebanon  Council. 


THE  MARONITES  103 

and  Turcomans  are  all  there  of  recent  date."  Echoes  of 
the  old  Syriac  or  Aramaic  speech  are  heard  in  the  broad 
Arabic  vowels  sounded  in  the  Maronite  villages  near  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon.  The  fair  complexions  and  blue  eyes 
common  among  the  Greek  Christians  are  seldom  seen 
among  the  Maronites  of  the  Kesrouan  district  above  Bey- 
rout.  The  typical  face  of  this  thickly  populated  region  is 
round  rather  than  oval;  the  eyes  are  well-set,  almond- 
shaped,  and  black  or  brown  in  color;  the  nose  is  inclined 
to  be  broad;  the  teeth  are  white  and  regular;  the  complex- 
ion is  a  healthy  olive  with  almost  no  red  color;  the  stat- 
ure is  medium.  In  the  cedar  district  in  the  north  of  the 
Lebanon  the  women  are  handsome,  with  round  faces  and 
pink-and- white  complexion. 

About  three  hundred  thousand  Maronites  now  live  in  the 
Lebanon,  forming  about  three-quarters  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion. They  are  mainly  concentrated  in  the  northern  half, 
beyond  the  Dog  River,  but  they  are  scattered  as  well  through 
the  southern  half,  which  is  sometimes  called  the  Mountain 
of  the  Druses.  One  hundred  thousand  more  are  found 
in  Beyrout2  and  the  other  maritime  cities  of  Syria,  in 
Aleppo,  Damascus,  Cyprus,  Egypt,  and  in  foreign  lands. 
For  some  years  there  has  been  a  considerable  Maronite 
floating  population  in  the  United  States,  Brazil,  Australia, 
etc.  A  few  hundred  Maronites  live  in  Nazareth,  Jerusalem, 
and  elsewhere  in  Palestine,  but  at  present  their  hold  on  the 
Holy  Land  proper  is  feeble.  After  the  expulsion  of  the 
Crusaders  they  had  possessions  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  but  it  is  said  they  were  forced  to  sell  these  to  the 
Franciscans.  About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
they  still  had  several  churches  in  Jerusalem,  with  a  con- 
siderable following,  but  owing  to  a  double  persecution 
from  the  government  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  the  Fran- 
ciscans on  the  other,  their  property  was  taken  over  by  the 
Greeks  and  the  Franciscans,  while  the  majority  of  the  people 
became  Latins,  that  is  to  say,  Roman  Catholics  proper.  In 
the  same  way  the  native  Latins  of  Nazareth  are  said  to  be 

1  See  the  "Mission  de  Ph&iicie,"  by  E.  Renan,  p.  335. 

2  The  Maronite  population  of  Beyrout  is  50,000. 


104  CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

descendants  of  Lebanon  Maronites.  Since  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  Latin  patriarchate  in  1847,  at  each  Latin 
mission  station  on  either  side  of  the  Jordan,  in  accordance 
with  a  friendly  agreement  between  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
Maronite  authorities,  there  have  been  in  residence  two 
priests,  one  in  charge  of  the  mission,  ordained  according  to 
the  Latin  rite,  though  he  may  be  a  native,  the  other  or- 
dained as  a  Maronite,  who  usually  does  the  actual  parochial 
work,  saying  mass,  baptizing,  preaching,  hearing  confes- 
sions, etc.,  all  according  to  the  Maronite  rite.  In  1895  the 
sect  again  secured  a  foothold  in  Jerusalem,  building  a  hos- 
pice and  chapel,  under  the  direction  of  a  priest  who  repre- 
sents the  patriarch.  I  was  officially  informed  that  this 
move  was  forced  on  the  Maronites  by  the  failure  of  the 
Franciscans  to  provide  for  Maronite  pilgrims,  according  to 
the  agreement  made  when  they  took  over  the  property. 

The  parallel  chronicles  of  the  Druses  and  Maronites 
contain  the  last  chapters  in  the  history  of  feudalism.  This 
institution,  which  was  organized  on  an  international  basis 
in  the  Holy  Land  at  the  time  of  the  Crusaders,  took  deep 
root  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  surviving  in  these  lands  long 
after  it  had  disappeared  from  Europe.  Its  last  refuge  was 
in  the  Lebanon  Mountains,  where  it  received  its  death- 
blow but  a  half  century  ago.  The  constant  rivalry  for  po- 
litical control  of  the  Lebanon  between  Maronite  and  Druse 
chieftains,  which  had  caused  the  civil  wars  of  1845  and 
1860,  provoked,  in  the  latter  named  year,  the  interference 
of  Napoleon  III,  who  sent  an  army  of  occupation  to  the 
Syrian  coast.  As  a  result  of  this  foreign  intervention  the 
Lebanon  government,  feudal  for  centuries,  was  reorgan- 
ized under  a  Christian  governor,  to  be  nominated  by  the 
sultan  and  confirmed  by  the  great  powers.  The  Lebanon 
continues  to  be  a  sort  of  imperium  in  imperio,  the  status 
of  which  was  unaffected  by  the  revival  of  the  Turkish  con- 
stitution in  1908.  The  governors  have  been  appointed 
from  the  Christian  pachas  in  service  of  the  Turkish  Em- 
pire, and  have  included  Armenians  and  an  Italian,  but 
never  a  Syrian.  The  local  nobility,  thus,  have  been  rele- 
gated to  subordinate  positions  in  the  government. 


THE  MARONITES  105 

Among  the  Druses  the  hereditary  feudal  rite  of  the  nobles 
to  command  the  services  of  the  people  of  a  given  district, 
Christians  as  well  as  Druses,  was  unquestioned  up  to  this 
time.  Peasants  were  expected  to  haul  stone  from  the 
quarry  and  firewood  from  the  forest,  receiving  as  their  only 
pay  a  meal  from  the  sheikh  at  the  end  of  the  day.1  A  year 
or  two  before  the  massacres  of  1860,  my  father,  then  resident 
at  Suq-el-Ghurb  in  a  house  belonging  to  a  well-to-do  Prot- 
estant of  Orthodox  extraction,  heard  a  cry  wafted  up  from 
the  roof  of  a  house  in  'Aitat,  a  village  of  Druse  sheikhs  on 
the  slope  below.  "  Ya  Nasif  Machail ! "  sounded  the  voice. 
"  Ya  Nasif  Machail !  He  has  spoken ! "  Nasif  Machail,  who 
knew  that  by  this  phrase  his  presence  was  commanded, 
immediately  dropped  his  work,  hastened  down  the  slope, 
and,  humbly  saluting,  entered  the  presence  of  him  who  had 
"spoken,"  his  liege  lord,  the  head  of  the  house  of  Tal- 
huk.  "Take  this  letter  at  once  to  Baqlin,"  briefly  said  the 
sheikh.  Now,  Baqlin  is  not  far  from  'Aitat  as  the  crow 
flies,  but  for  man  or  beast  it  was  in  those  days  a  weary  jour- 
ney of  many  hours  along  a  stony  path  that  twice  dipped 
down  to  the  bottom  of  deep  valleys  and  .mounted  the  steep 
slope  beyond.  Without  question  this  Protestant  Christian 
delivered  the  letter  of  the  Druse  chief  tain  and  returned  home 
along  the  same  weary  route.  I  myself  remember  well  a 
benign  and  stately  old  sheikh  of  this  same  family  of  Talhuk 
who  in  the  earlier  times  had  ordered  his  servants  to  beat  a 
man  simply  because  he  had  failed  to  rise  from  his  seat  on 
the  wayside  when  his  lord  was  passing  along  another  path 
further  up  the  same  slope. 

According  to  unvarying  feudal  law,  in  return  for  such 
services  the  peasants  received  protection,  leadership  in 
war,  and  unbounded  hospitality.  Churchill  states  that  the 
Emir  (Prince)  Beshir  Shehaab'  would  entertain  for  days 
together  two  or  three  thousand  footmen  and  five  or  six 
hundred  horsemen.  The  Earl  of  Carnarvon,  writing  of  a 
visit  made  in  1853,  testifies  to  similar  hospitality  among 
the  Druse  sheikhs,  who  impressed  him  with  their  dignity 

1  "Mount  Lebanon,"  vol.  I,  p.  285,  by  Colonel  Churchill  (London, 
1853). 


106  CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

and  social  ease.1  The  Shehaabs,  descendants  of  a  collateral 
tribe  of  the  Qureish,  remained  entirely  Mohammedan  until 
about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  at  which  time 
the  Lebanon  branch  became  Maronites.  The  Hasbeya  and 
Rasheya  branches  on  the  slopes  of  Hermon  are  still  Moslems. 
The  fame  of  the  terrible  and  beneficent  rule  of  the  Emir 
Beshir,  who  was  at  the  height  of  his  power  a  century  ago, 
still  lingers  in  the  mountains.  Old  men  have  told  me  tales 
of  his  appearance  which  they  had  heard  described  by  their 
fathers.  He  was  short  of  stature,  but  had  the  head  of  a 
lion,  with  flaming  brown  eyes  and  a  shaggy  beard  falling 
to  the  waist,  the  hairs  of  which  stood  on  end  when  he  was 
enraged.  Once  a  man  seeking  to  curry  favor  with  the 
prince  said  to  him:  "My  lord,  yesterday  on  the  fearsome 
plain  of  the  Buqa'a  I  met  a  woman  whom  I  knew  not, 
walking  alone  and  covered  with  jewels.  'How  dare  you 
thus  fare  abroad  alone?'  I  asked  her.  'Know  you  not/ 
she  answered,  'that  the  Emir  Beshir  rules  in  Lebanon?" 
"Take  the  dog  away,"  roared  the  emir,  "and  give  him  forty 
lashes  for  speaking  to  the  woman!" 

The  complete  disappearance  of  feudalism  can  be  no  bet- 
ter illustrated  than  by  the  present  condition  of  the  numer- 
ous Shehaab  emirs,  some  of  whom  are  so  impoverished 
that  they  have  become  drivers.  One  of  these  recently  had 
a  "fare"  who  bargained  to  be  taken  to  a  certain  Lebanon 
village  and  back  again.  Impatient  of  the  slowness  of  the 
horses,  the  traveller  had  been  loudly  cursing  the  coachman 
all  along  the  route,  when,  on  approaching  the  village,  the 
latter,  who  had  been  taking  the  verbal  onslaught  quite 
passively,  pulled  in  the  reins  and  leaning  back  said  gently, 
"Would  your  excellency  mind  leaving  the  rest  of  your 
curses  for  the  return  journey  ?  This  happens  to  be  my  own 
village,  and  I  am  still  prince  here." 

There  is  another  family  of  Maronite  emirs  in  the  Leba- 
non, namely,  the  house  of  Abu  Lemm'a,  originally  Druse, 
but  turning  Maronite  Christian  shortly  after  the  "con- 
version" of  the  Shehaabs.  These  princes  had  become  so 

1  "  Recollections  of  the  Druses  of  Lebanon  and  Notes  on  their  Re- 
ligion," p.  37,  by  the  Earl  of  Carnarvon  (London,  1860). 


THE  MARONITES  107 

reduced  in  estate  before  the  massacres  of  1860  that  Church- 
hill  declared  that  the  presentation  by  the  peasants  of  fowls, 
coffee,  and  sugar,  according  to  immemorial  custom  on 
the  birth  of  a  son  to  one  of  the  emirs,  had  come  to  be 
"anticipated  as  a  means  of  existence,"  whereas  once  it  had 
been  "accepted  as  a  mark  of  dependence."1  Unlike  these 
two  families  of  emirs,  the  three  chief  families  of  Christian 
sheikhs,  those  of  Kha'zin,  Habeish',  and  Dahdah',  are  purely 
Maronite  in  origin.  The  house  of  Habeish  appears  to  be 
the  oldest.  According  to  Churchill,  sheikhs  of  this  family 
were  allies  of  the  Crusaders.  The  Khazins,  by  far  the  most 
important  of  these  families,  became  powerful  in  the  Kes- 
rouan  toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Later 
they  made  alliances  with  the  French  kings,  who  became 
protectors  of  the  Maronite  nation,  a  tradition  that  not 
yet  has  lost  all  its  power.  In  a  similar  way  the  Druses 
still  look  to  the  English  as  their  special  friends.  Sheikh 
Naufal  el-Khazin  received  as  gifts  from  Louis  XIV  a  sword 
and  a  ring.  At  Ghosta,  once  a  centre  for  the  Khazins,  there 
may  be  seen,  perched  boldly  on  top  of  a  hill  that  slopes 
precipitously  fifteen  hundred  feet  to  the  amethyst  bay  of 
Juneh,  an  ancient  Maronite  Church,  with  a  quaint  Latin 
inscription  that  might  have  been  edited  by  an  ancestor  of 
Mrs.  Gamp,  with  a  turn  for  the  dead  languages:  "Ex 
Ludovigi  XV.  Galliarum  Regis  Munifigentia  Edifigium 
hoc  erctum  [sic]  est  1769." 

The  power  of  the  Khazins  in  the  Kesrouan,  though  be- 
coming somewhat  abated,  lasted  till  the  year  1858,  when 
the  peasants,  restive  under  the  feudal  yoke,  rose  in  insurrec- 
tion and  drove  out  the  nobles.  Years  later  they  returned, 
but  in  the  meantime  the  reconstitution  of  the  government 
had  deprived  them  of  all  power  as  a  family.  Such  traces 
of  feudalism  as  continued  to  be  manifested  in  the  ingrained 
respect  shown  by  the  people  to  their  nobility  have  been 
wellnigh  obliterated  by  the  lessons  of  personal  indepen- 
dence learned  in  the  United  States  and  brought  back  by  re- 
turned emigrants,  who  now  fairly  permeate  the  Lebanon 

1  "Mount  Lebanon,"  op  tit,  vol.  I,  p.  97. 


108     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

as  well  as  the  rest  of  Syria,  by  no  means  to  the  improvement 
of  the  national  manners. 

The  Maronite  hierarchy  is  organized  on  the  same  lines 
with  those  of  all  Eastern  communions.  Peculiar  national 
conditions,  however,  have  accentuated  the  powers  of  the 
Maronite  patriarch  both  in  spiritual  and  in  temporal  mat- 
ters. The  official  title  of  this  head  of  the  Maronite  Church 
is  Patriarch  of  Antioch  and  of  the  whole  East.  To  his  own 
name  the  patriarch  must  add  that  of  Peter,  the  Founder  of 
the  Sea.  Since  1440  the  official  seat  has  been  the  ancient 
monastery  of  Qannubln,  in  the  gorge  of  the  Qadisha  River, 
to  be  described  later.  In  recent  years  the  patriarchs  have 
spent  their  summers  in  the  monastery  of  B'dfman,  on  top 
of  the  cliff  opposite  to  Qannubin,  and  their  winters  at 
B'kerky,  in  the  Kesrouan  district,  a  dozen  miles  from  Bey- 
rout.  The  duties  and  privileges  of  the  patriarch  are  de- 
tailed in  the  acts  of  the  Council  of  the  Lebanon,  which  was 
held  at  the  monastery  of  Lowaizy  in  the  year  1736.  The 
acts  of  this  only  council  ever  held  by  the  Maronite  Church 
still  regulate  its  affairs.1  At  this  time  the  power  to  depose 
a  bishop  for  fault  was  taken  out  of  the  patriarch's  hands, 
but  it  was  enacted  that  pending  the  decision  from  Rome 
he  could  imprison  the  suspected  prelate  in  a  monastery. 
The  patriarch  may  entertain  appeals  in  regard  to  cases 
tried  by  the  bishops;  he  alone  may  permit  marriages  within 
the  forbidden  degrees  of  relationship;  he  may  establish 
new  fasts  and  feasts;  he  may  make  changes  in  the  ritual 
provided  that  the  substance  is  unaltered;  he  is  to  consecrate 
the  chrismatic  oil;  in  all  grave  matters  he  is  to  consult 
the  bishops,  and  certain  questions  must  be  referred  to  Rome. 
The  patriarchal  revenues,  which  amount  to  several  thousand 
pounds  annually,  accrue  from  the  following  sources:  the 
incomes  from  the  patriarchal  estates  and  from  affiliated 
monasteries;  tithes  from  the  Maronite  nation;  large  sums 
of  money  sent  from  Europe  for  masses;  the  price  of  masses 

1  The  acts  of  the  council  are  published  both  in  Arabic  and  in  Latin. 
For  an  account  of  this  council,  see  my  article,  "The  Maronites,"  above 
quoted,  pp.  77-79. 


THE  MARONITES  109 

from  wealthy  Maronites,  etc.  According  to  the  laws  of  this 
church  each  male  adult  is  taxed  three  piasters,  or  about 
twelve  cents,  annually.  For  many  years,  however,  the  tax- 
gathering  has  not  been  strictly  enforced.  In  some  cases 
the  bishops  are  allowed  to  retain  a  large  portion  of  the  tithes, 
and  in  others  the  parish  priests  may  keep  them. 

Ten  days  after  the  death  of  a  Maronite  patriarch  the 
bishops  proceed  to  elect  his  successor.  It  is  recommended 
that  the  candidate  be  a  bishop,  but  a  simple  priest  may  be 
chosen  for  elevation.  In  any  case  the  candidate  must  have 
completed  his  fortieth  year.  Six  bishops  may  form  a  quo- 
rum. According  to  a  hereditary  privilege  the  doors  of  the 
church  where  the  election  takes  place  may  be  guarded  by  a 
sheikh  of  the  house  of  Khazin.  The  presiding  officer,  who 
is  the  senior  bishop,  writes  his  choice  on  a  bit  of  paper,  seals 
it,  and  drops  it  in  a  cup  on  the  altar.  When  all  have  thus 
cast  their  votes,  these  are  counted  by  two  of  the  bishops; 
if  they  do  not  correspond  with  the  number  of  voters  they 
are  thrown,  unopened,  in  a  brazier  of  coals  near  the  door, 
and  a  new  vote  is  taken.  The  successful  candidate  must 
receive  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  votes  cast.  Elec- 
tion by  acclamation  is  legal  only  when  it  is  absolutely  unan- 
imous. The  first  Sunday  or  feast  day  after  the  election 
is  appointed  for  the  consecration,  after  which  the  new 
patriarch  writes  a  letter  to  the  pope,  professing  obedience 
and  praying  for  confirmation  of  his  election  and  enthrone- 
ment. One  of  the  bishops  is  sent  as  special  envoy  to  Rome, 
bringing  back  the  pallium. 

Like  all  other  Oriental  prelates  in  the  Turkish  Empire, 
the  Maronite  bishops  exercise  civil  as  well  as  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  over  their  people.  The  patriarch  has  the  sole 
authority  in  episcopal  election  and  consecration,  but  he 
should  have  the  advice  and  consent  of  his  bishops.  More- 
over, the  ancient  Eastern  customs  of  consulting  the  wishes 
of  the  people,  disregarded  by  the  Greek  Catholics,  is  kept 
up  by  the  Maronite  hierarchy  by  sending  agents  to  confer 
with  the  priests  and  chief  men  of  the  diocese.  According 
to  the  canons  the  nomination  may  be  made  either  by  the 
patriarch  or  by  the  people.  The  candidate  must  be  at 
least  thirty  years  of  age,  and  should  have  been  six  months 


110     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

in  priest's  orders.  The  patriarch  usually  consecrates  the 
bishop-elect,  but  upon  necessity  he  may  delegate  the  duty 
to  three  other  bishops.  Among  the  Maronite  bishops  of 
recent  times  there  have  been  some  fair  scholars.  The 
Bishop  Na'amtallah,  of  the  noble  house  of  Dahdan,  told  me 
somewhat  naively  that  he  had  studied  fifteen  languages, 
including  Chinese.  The  late  Bishop  Dibs,  of  Beyrout,  an 
author  of  some  local  note,  established  in  his  city  a  large 
college  for  boys  and  young  men,  with  a  seminary  attached. 
The  episcopal  revenues  vary  with  the  different  dioceses. 
They  include  the  income  from  property  belonging  to  the 
diocese  and,  in  certain  cases,  a  portion  of  the  tithes.  When 
making  a  visitation  a  bishop  often  receives  the  prices  of 
masses  from  rich  members  of  the  see.1 

We  have  seen  that  the  ecclesiastical  grade  of  Chorepis- 
copus  (Country  Bishop),  which  disappeared  centuries  ago 
from  the  Western  church,  still  actively  survives  in  the 
Jacobite  communion.  This  grade  is  recognized  by  the 
canons  of  the  Maronite  Church,  as  is  that  of  Periodeuta, 
whose  functions  originally  were  to  tour  among  the  villages 
of  the  diocese  examining  the  general  condition  of  churches 
and  monasteries.  Until  the  patriarchate  of  the  late  Hanna- 
el-Haj,  who  was  enthroned  in  1890,  these  grades  had  prac- 
tically lapsed,  though  the  honorary  title  "berduf"  (the 
Arabicized  form  of  periodeuta)  was  occasionally  held  by 
priests  representing  the  patriarch  in  distant  parts.  Under 
Hanna-el-Haj  and  his  successor,  the  present  patriarch,  both 
grades  have  been  systematically  revived.  Each  diocese  may 
now  have  one  periodeuta  exercising  the  canonical  function 
of  itinerancy,  with  power  to  investigate.  The  number  of 
chorepiscopi  is  not  limited.  They  act  as  representatives  of 
the  patriarch.  Thus  the  priest  in  charge  of  the  Jerusalem 
hospice  was  first  made  a  "berdut"  by  patriarchal  consecra- 
tion, and  later  was  consecrated  as  chorepiscopus,  responsi- 
ble to  the  patriarch.2 

The  Maronite  parish  priests  are  elected  by  the  people, 

1  For  a  list  of  the  Maronite  dioceses,  see  Appendix. 


2  The  Arabic  word  for  chorepiscopus,   uio'<.vM  ,$)}£*•  >  found  in 
the  canons  is  a  curious  and  involved  instance  of  "  false  etymology."   The 


THE  MARONITES  111 

who  usually  choose  a  member  of  their  own  town.  In  the 
village  of  Hammana  the  families  are  divided  into  three 
groups,  each  of  which  has  a  church  with  one  or  more  priests 
from  its  own  members.  In  case  of  a  number  of  priests 
over  one  church,  they  divide  the  parish  work.  The  parish 
priests  receive  no  regular  salary  besides  the  price  of  masses, 
but  may  collect  fees  for  marriages,  baptisms,  funerals,  etc. 
In  the  growing  tendency  to  ordain  unmarried  men  the  subtle 
influence  of  Rome  may  be  traced.  Thus  in  the  Beyrout 
church  of  Mar  Elyas,  the  three  priests  are  all  celibate. 
The  Maronite  parish  clergy  is  better  educated  than  that  of 
any  other  Syrian  body  except  the  Greek  Catholics  and  pos- 
sibly the  Syrian  Catholics.  Besides  the  theological  schools 
at  Rome  and  at  the  Dibs  College  at  Beyrout  there  are 
seminaries  at  'Ain  Wa'raqa,  Rumt'yeh,  Reifun'  and  Mar 
'Ab'da  in  the  Lebanon.1  At  these  schools  much  is  made  of 
Syriac,  the  original  language  of  the  church,  and  still  used 
exclusively  in  the  mass.  A  smattering  of  Syriac  is  even 
taught  in  the  village  schools.  For  the  usual  lack  of  preach- 
ing in  the  parishes,  a  certain  compensation  may  be  found 
in  the  itinerant  visits  of  an  order  of  regular  clergy. 

In  a  hollow  of  the  hills  opening  toward  the  sea  above  the 
Bay  of  Juneh  nestles  the  convent  of  missioners  called  Deir- 
el-Kreim,  with  a  bishop  at  the  head.  The  priests  may  be 
known  by  a  small  red  cross  at  the  top  of  the  cap.  At  dif- 
ferent seasons,  but  especially  in  Lent,  members  of  this 
order  go  from  village  to  village,  usually  by  twos,  making  at 
each  place  a  visit  of  eight  days,  beginning  with  Sunday. 
The  people  are  expected  to  regard  this  mission  as  a  sort  of 
retreat,  giving  up  their  work  as  far  as  possible  in  order  to 
attend  the  three  daily  preaching  services,  and  keeping  silence 
the  rest  of  the  time.  The  discourses  are  occasionally  con- 
troversial, if  the  local  circumstances  appear  to  demand 

colloquial  Arabic  term  for  priest,  khuri,  is  supposed  to  have  been  origi- 
nally an  abbreviation  of  chorepiscopus.  Accordingly,  in  seeking  an 
Arabic  translation  for  this  latter  term,  the  second  part  of  which  plainly 
meant  "bishop,"  the  phrase  "khuri-el-isqof,"  or  "the  bishop's  priest," 
which  loosely  defined  the  functions,  was  employed. 
1  See  my  article,  "The  Maronites,"  op.  tit.,  p.  138. 


112     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

it,  but  as  a  rule  they  deal  with  themes  of  practical  con- 
duct. Many  who  have  not  confessed  for  years  yield  to 
the  persuasion  of  the  priests.  Truly  the  phenomena  of  a 
"revival  season"  do  not  differ  essentially  in  the  different 
faiths. 

The  power  of  the  Maronite  hierarchy,  so  subtly  uniting 
spiritual  and  temporal  elements,  has  received  a  decided 
blow  in  recent  years.  It  had  partially  recovered  from  the 
first  attack  made  upon  it  during  the  administration  of 
Rustem  Pacha,  who  became  governor  of  the  Lebanon  in 
1873,  when  it  was  again  threatened  by  the  activity  of  the 
societies  of  Freemasons  and  other  popular  benevolent  as- 
sociations which  have  sprung  up  in  the  Lebanon  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century  in  consequence  of  the  liberal  ideas 
brought  back  from  the  New  World  by  returned  emigrants. 
These  societies  are  not  anti-religious,  but  only  anti-clerical, 
in  so  far  as  the  clergy  has  unduly  attempted  to  influence 
legislation  in  the  Lebanon  courts.  Thus  two  parties  have 
been  lately  formed  among  the  Maronites:  the  one  backing 
the  patriarch,  who  still  openly  claims  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  Kesrouan;  and  the  other  antagonizing  the 
claim,  with  all  that  it  involves.  The  popular  party  in- 
cludes some  parish  priests.  The  controversy,  once  started, 
waxed  fierce  indeed.  Not  only  was  a  bitter  pamphlet  and 
newspaper  war  waged,  but  the  patriarch  put  under  the  ban 
the  Freemasons  and  other  societies.  On  the  death  of  the 
late  governor,  Muzuffar  Pacha,  a  cable  with  one  thousand 
signatures  was  sent  to  Constantinople,  protesting  against 
the  appointment  of  a  gubernatorial  candidate  who  might  be 
favorable  to  the  clerical  party.  At  one  time  the  people  of 
Ghazir',  a  hot-bed  of  clericalism,  boycotted  the  church, 
threatening  to  invite  the  Moslems  to  build  a  mosque  under 
the  very  eyes  of  the  patriarch.  The  issues  are  by  no  means 
yet  settled,  but  it  is  claimed  that  the  popular  party  has  al- 
ready undermined  the  clerical  influence  in  the  government 
courts. 

This  popular  uprising  among  the  Maronites  against  the 
higher  clergy  chronologically  followed  similar  conditions  in 
the  Greek  patriarchate  of  Antioch,  and  is  synchronous  with 


THE  MONASTERIES  113 

the  troubles  in  the  patriarchate  of  Jerusalem.  But  between 
the  Maronite  and  Greek  movements  there  is  one  salient 
difference.  While  the  native  Greeks  have  been  rebelling 
against  the  domination  of  an  alien  Ionian  hierarchy,  the 
Maronite  people  have  been  endeavoring  to  curtail  the  privi- 
leges which  a  Maronite  hierarchy  of  their  own  flesh  and 
blood  has  exercised  unquestioned  for  centuries. 

VI.    THE  MONASTERIES 

To  call  this  section  "The  Eastern  Monastic  Orders" 
would  be  misleading.  Among  the  united  bodies  of  Syria 
may  be  found,  indeed,  genuine  orders  whose  members 
follow  the  ancient  monastic  rules  of  the  East,  preserved 
since  the  time  of  Saint  Anthony,  but  the  co-ordination  of 
these  rules  into  a  rigid  constitution,  and  the  elaborate 
system  of  almost  military  control,  culminating  in  a  gen- 
eral of  the  order,  was  based  on  Western  models.  Among 
the  Orthodox,  orders  comparable  to  these  are  not  to  be 
found.  Such  communities  of  monks  as  exist  in  the  Greek 
Church  were  established  for  some  practical  purpose.  Thus 
the  original  community  of  Mount  Athos  was  founded  for 
the  copying  of  manuscripts,  though  it  should  be  added  that 
with  the  lapse  of  this  function,  consequent  both  on  the 
lapse  of  learning  in  the  Greek  Church  and  on  the  discov- 
ery of  printing,  the  monastic  establishments  of  Mount 
Athos  did  not  cease  to  flourish.1  The  Brotherhood  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem,  which  ramifies  all  over 
Palestine,  and  also  extends  beyond  seas,  has  for  its  justi- 
fication the  preservation  of  the  holy  places.  The  Convent 
of  Mount  Sinai  exists  for  a  similar  purpose.  Numerous 
independent  Greek  monasteries,  however,  exist  in  Greece, 
Asia  Minor,  the  Lebanon,  and  elsewhere,  each  being  quite 
unconnected  with  any  other  monastery.  Such  establish- 

1  In  1902  the  monks  of  this  place  numbered  some  seven  thousand 
five  hundred,  divided  among  twenty  monasteries,  other  smaller  estab- 
lishments, and  hermit  cells.  The  entire  community  is  regulated  by  a 
holy  synod,  an  institution  that  appears  to  be  organized  on  thoroughly 
democratic  lines. 


114     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

ments,  which  are  under  the  control  of  the  patriarch  or  of 
the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  have  been  usually  founded  by 
wealthy  and  charitable  Greeks,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  surplus  income  be  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of 
schools  or  hospitals.  Orthodox  monks  follow  the  rule  of 
Saint  Basil,  with  modifications  differing  in  different  estab- 
lishments. Of  the  four  ancient  divisions  of  Jacobite-Syrian 
monks,  the  Eremites,  the  Stylites,  the  Coenobites,  and  the 
Inclusi,  only  the  two  latter  remain.  A  few  still  live  in  cells. 
All  are  under  episcopal  jurisdiction.1 

Of  the  origin  and  development  of  the  Brotherhood  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  we  have  already  written  at  length. 
The  head-quarters  are  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Holy  City, 
at  the  celebrated  Convent  of  Constantine,  popularly  known 
as  the  Greek  convent,  or  Deir-er-Rum.  In  the  bewilder- 
ing jumble  of  its  open  courts,  dim,  vaulted  passages,  quaint 
little  gardens,  and  steep  stairways  a  stranger  might  easily 
get  lost.  This  mass  of  buildings,  which  covers  a  large  area, 
is  joined  on  the  north  to  the  patriarchate  by  a  bridge  over 
a  narrow  lane,  and  on  the  east  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  by  the  roof  of  a  covered  arcade  under  which 
flows  the  life  of  the  city  along  the  so-called  Christian  street. 
Since  the  Middle  Ages  the  history  of  this  Greek  convent  is 
intertwined  with  the  history  of  Jerusalem.  One  is  tempted 
to  trace,  at  least  to  a  certain  extent,  the  friendly  relations 
between  Christians  and  Moslems  which  distinguishes  the 
life  of  Jerusalem  to  the  dominating  influence  of  this  insti- 
tution, which  for  centuries  not  only  has  given  employment 
to  the  poor  of  all  classes,  but  which  has  extended  patron- 
age in  return  for  protection  to  the  noble  Moslem  families. 
A  similar  tale  might  be  told  of  the  Franciscan  convent. 
The  Greek  convent  has  much  property  at  different  points 
within  the  city  walls,  as  well  as  large  and  remunerative 
agricultural  estates,  mainly  on  the  south-west  side  of  the 
town. 

The  president  of  the  brotherhood  is,  ex  officio,  the  patri- 
arch, who  thus  must  have  been  elected  from  the  monks  of 
this  order.  In  the  Convent  of  Constantine  are  resident  eight 
1  "Six  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery,"  p.  325,  by  O.  H.  Parry. 


THE  MONASTERIES  115 

bishops  and  nine  archimandrites,  all  seventeen  being  mem- 
bers of  the  Holy  Synod;  twenty-one  other  archimandrites, 
twenty-six  ordinary  priests,  nineteen  deacons,  and  fifty-five 
lay  brothers,  making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight.1  Some  of  the  bishops  are  in  partibus,  but  others  have 
been  criticised  by  the  native  Syrians  for  not  residing  in 
their  sees.  Seventy-six  members  of  the  order  are  resident 
elsewhere  in  Jerusalem  and  vicinity,  while  the  other  holy 
places  of  Palestine  are  guarded  by  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
one  other  members,  lodged  in  monasteries  or  other  estab- 
lishments east  and  west  of  the  Jordan.  The  traveller 
from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  should  turn  aside  to  look  across 
the  deep  canyon  of  the  Wady-el-Kelt  at  the  Monastery  of 
Mar  Yuhan'na  (Saint  John),  which  clings  to  the  opposite 
cliff.  He  may  also  note  the  ladders  which  lead  to  the  en- 
trances of  the  cells  of  hermits,  who  still  inhabit  caves  in 
this  desolate  gorge.  The  convent  also  has  establishments 
in  Constantinople,  Athens,  Cyprus,  Crete,  and  Moscow. 
The  entire  membership  of  this  closest  of  close  corporations 
is  over  four  hundred.  How  deeply  the  native  Syrians  re- 
sent their  exclusion  from  the  brotherhood,  which  is  in  the 
hands  of  an  Ionian  hierarchy,  we  have  seen  already.  The 
members  on  entering  the  order  take  the  vows  of  obedience 
and  chastity,  but  not  that  of  poverty.  At  death,  however, 
all  properties  in  the  possession  of  monks  lapse  to  the  gen- 
eral fund. 

The  great  convent  contains  three  churches,  the  largest 
of  which  is  dedicated  to  Saint  Thekla,  hence  the  establish- 
ment was  called  the  Monastery  of  Saint  Thekla,  in  1400. 
Contiguous  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  are  the 
churches  of  Helena  and  of  Constantine.  In  the  former 
mass  is  said  daily,  except  on  Good  Friday  and  on  the 
two  Sundays  preceding  Lent.  The  convent  library  con- 
tains about  three  thousand  manuscripts  and  ten  thousand 
printed  books.  Among  the  former  are  over  one  hundred 
ancient  Greek  works  on  vellum,  including  the  famous 
Didache,  or  Teaching  of  the  Apostles,  found  in  the  Jeru- 
salem library  at  the  Phanar,  on  the  Golden  Horn,  Con- 

1  See  Appendix. 


116     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

stantinople.  The  librarian  is  the  learned  and  courteous 
Archdeacon  Cleophas  Kiklides. 

The  reception  of  pilgrims  is  one  of  the  chief  functions  of 
the  establishment,  and  of  its  ten  sub-convents  elsewhere  in 
the  city.  The  pilgrims  take  their  first  meal  in  one  of  the 
three  synod  chambers  (now  no  longer  used  for  the  original 
purpose)  containing  a  long  stone  table  and  stone  seats. 
Russian  pilgrims  are  mainly  cared  for  in  the  Russian  build- 
ings, north  of  the  town  walls,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Imperial  Society  of  Palestine.1 

While  the  patriarchate  of  Jerusalem  is  thus  honey- 
combed with  Greek  monastic  establishments,  all  under  the 
control  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  among 
the  Greeks  of  the  patriarchate  of  Antioch,  the  monastic 
profession  is  followed  to-day  by  scarcely  sixty  individuals, 
scattered  among  the  following  unco-ordinated  monasteries: 
Bellament  (Belmont,  near  Tripoli);  Mar  Elyas'  Shweiy'ya 
(Saint  Elijah,  near  Bekfay'ya  in  the  Lebanon);  Mar  Jir'jius 
(Saint  George,  between  'Akkar'  and  Hums);  and  in  five  or 
six  smaller  establishments  in  the  Lebanon,  as  well  as  in  the 
Convent  of  Sedanay'ya,  where  there  are  some  twenty-five 
nuns.  The  bold,  rocky  site  for  this  convent  of  Our  Lady 
is  said  to  have  been  indicated  in  a  dream  by  a  dove,  which 
apparently  has  continued  to  be  the  protector  of  the  place. 
According  to  a  recent  tradition,  when  in  1860  the  building 
was  packed  with  Christians  escaped  from  Damascus  for 
fear  of  the  massacres,  the  Moslems  were  kept  away  by  this 
dove,  which  hovered  around  the  massive  walls.  The  nuns 
of  Sedanayya  itinerate  among  the  towns  and  villages  of  the 
land,  collecting  oil  to  be  used  for  the  Feast  of  the  Virgin,  as 
well  as  for  convent  use  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  At  this 
feast  thousands  congregate  from  all  over  the  country,  bring- 
ing no  food,  as  this  is  supplied  by  the  convent.  In  many 
features  it  differs  in  nowise  from  all  popular  religious  fes- 
tivals of  whatever  creed  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  though  the 
total  abstinence  of  the  Moslems  happily  rules  out  at  their 

1  For  other  interesting  details  in  regard  to  the  Greek  convent,  see 
the  valuable  pamphlet  of  Archdeacon  Bowling,  entitled  "The  Patri- 
archate of  Jerusalem."  (London,  1908.) 


THE  MONASTERIES  117 

functions  the  drunken  brawls,  sometimes  ending  in  murder, 
which  often  disgrace  the  Christian  feasts.  In  recent  years 
the  crowds  at  Sedanayya  are  said  to  have  been  better  be- 
haved than  formerly. 

In  the  Lebanon  there  may  be  found  some  forty  monas- 
tic establishments  under  the  sole  control  of  the  Maronite 
patriarch,  falling  thus,  like  the  Greek  establishments,  un- 
der the  category  of  the  unco-ordinated  monasteries.  Such 
Maronite  establishments,  however,  include  fifteen  nunneries, 
the  rest  being  episcopal  seats,  schools,  etc.  Where  monks 
are  resident  in  these  monasteries  they  belong  individually 
to  one  of  the  three  orders,  which  were  organized  on  a 
Western  basis  in  the  eighteenth  century,  out  of  the  exist- 
ing monastic  units.  From  the  early  days  of  Christianity, 
hermits  and  coenobites,  following  the  rule  of  Saint  An- 
thony, dwelt  in  the  Lebanon.  Later  veritable  monas- 
teries were  founded.  When  the  first  movement  toward  co- 
ordination took  place  I  have  not  ascertained,  but  it  seems 
probable  that  it  was  well  under  way  when  the  Maronite 
scholar  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Germa'nus  Farhat',  as 
a  monk  in  the  monastery  of  Mar  Elisha'  organized  the  an- 
cient rules  into  a  constitution,  later  confirmed  by  the  pope. 
The  first  division  among  the  monks  of  Saint  Anthony  was 
made  in  1700,  when  the  sub-order  of  Mar  Isha'ya  (Isaiah) 
was  formed.  The  original  body  continued  to  bear  the 
name  of  the  monks  of  Mount  Lebanon  till  1768,  when  they 
were  divided  into  the  two  orders  of  Aleppines  (Halabi'yeh) 
and  Lebanese  (Libnani'yeh  or  Beladi'yeh),  sometimes  called 
the  monks  of  Qozhay'ya,  from  their  chief  convent.  The 
monks  of  the  three  orders  combined  are  said  now  to  num- 
ber some  fifteen  hundred.  In  the  year  1890  about  sixty 
per  cent  of  the  total  of  one  thousand  one  hundred  and 
sixty  belonged  to  the  Libnaniyeh,  twenty-six  per  cent  to  the 
monks  of  Isha'ya,  and  fourteen  per  cent  to  the  Halabiyeh.1 

Since  the  split  in  the  Greek  Church  in  1724,  the  Greek 
Catholics  have  organized  three  orders  of  monks  called  the 
Mukhallasi'yeh  (from  their  chief  establishment,  Deir-el- 

1  See  my  article,  "The  Maronites,"  op.  cit.,  p.  322. 


118     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Mukhal'lis,  or  Convent  of  Our  Saviour),  the  Beladf'yeh 
(local  or  national),  and  the  Halabi'yeh  (Aleppines),  which 
have  at  present  some  two  hundred  and  fifty,  one  hundred 
and  eighty,  and  sixty  members  respectively.  In  their  per- 
sonal discipline  the  monks,  like  their  Orthodox  brethren, 
follow  the  rule  of  Saint  Basil,  but  as  a  corporate  body,  with 
mutual  relations  among  the  members,  each  order  is  organ- 
ized on  lines  similar  to  the  Maronite.  Among  the  Greek 
Catholics,  the  nuns,  who  number  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty,  are  all  contemplative,  that  is,  keeping  within  con- 
vent bounds.  Thus  among  these  two  united  churches, 
Greek  Catholic  and  Maronite,  in  the  Lebanon  alone,  there  are 
over  two  thousand  monks  and  nuns',  as  over  against  a  total  of 
sixty  among, the  Orthodox  of  the  whole  patriarchate  of  Anti- 
och,  of  which  the  Lebanon  is  but  a  small  part.  From  the 
West  the  Maronite  monks  have  borrowed  the  tonsure.1 

As  the  three  Maronite  orders  are  controlled  in  much  the 
same  way,  the  following  summary,  based  on  a  study  of  the 
rules  of  the  order  of  Mar  Isha'ya,  may  be  taken  as  apply- 
ing generally  to  all  three,  as  well  as  to  the  Greek  Catholic 
orders  organized  along  the  same  lines.2  Controlling  each 
order  is  an  abbot-general  elected  once  in  three  years  at  a 
general  council.  With  the  Halabtyeh  and  the  monks  of 
Mar  Isha'ya  this  meeting  is  opened  and  closed  by  the 
patriarch;  with  the  Beladlyeh,  by  the  pope's  delegate. 
The  abbot-general  is  assisted  in  his  duties  by  four  general- 
directors,  whom  he  is  obliged  to  consult  in  some  cases. 
Groups  of  monasteries  are  under  the  charge  of  district 
directors.  Each  monastery  has  its  superior,  who  is  to  choose 
at  least  three  monks  as  advisers.  These  aid  but  cannot 
control  him.  The  temporal  affairs  are  in  the  hands  of  the 
steward,  who  in  his  contact  with  the  world  is  urged  by  the 
rules  to  try  to  improve  it.  He  is  to  make  accounts  with  the 
peasant  partners  of  the  monastery.  The  revenues  of  some 

1  When  a  Greek  monk  takes  the  vows,  bits  of  hair  are  cut  off  from 
the  four  sides  of  his  head,  but  there  is  no  regular  tonsure. 

2  These  rules  have  been  printed  at  Rome  in  KarshOni  (Arabic  lan- 
guage in  Syriac  text).     For  a  full  analysis  of  this  volume,  see  my  article, 
"The  Maronites,"  op.  tit.,  pp.  146-153. 


THE  MONASTERIES  119 

of  these  establishments  are  considerable,  that  of  Deir-en- 
Na'meh,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Damur,  aggregating  from 
eight  thousand  dollars  to  ten  thousand  dollars  yearly.  Each 
monastery  should  also  have  its  confessor,  preachers,  sacris- 
tan, librarian,  readers — whose  function  is  to  read  to  the 
monks  while  they  eat — porter,  steward  of  the  store-room, 
and  steward  of  the  sick.  There  is  also  a  steward  of  the 
clothes,  who  "  should  care  for  them  as  for  the  poor  of  Jesus 
Christ."  This  phrase  reminds  me  of  another  on  the  lips 
of  a  gentle  old  monk  in  the  rock-hewn  monastery  of  Elisha' 
at  the  bottom  of  the  gorge  of  the  Qadisha.  I  asked  him 
what  his  function  might  be  in  the  establishment.  With  a 
deprecating  smile  he  answered:  "I  pray  in  the  food";  thus 
signifying  in  his  Oriental  euphemism  touched  with  mysticism 
that  he  was  the  cook.  Many  of  the  minor  offices  just  men- 
tioned appear  to  have  lapsed. 

The  range  of  the  Lebanon  follows  the  sea-coast  for  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  south  to  north,  hav- 
ing a  maximum  breadth  of  twenty-five  to  thirty  miles. 
The  power  of  the  Catholic  orders  in  this  region  may  be 
gathered  from  the  statement  that  from  one-seventh  to  one- 
sixth  of  the  land  belongs  to  the  monasteries  of  the  different 
churches,  over  four-fifths  of  this  monastic  property  being 
Maronite.  Viewed  from  the  harbor  of  Beyrout,  the  Kesrouan 
district,  whose  ashen  hills  rise  almost  straight  from  the  sea, 
appears  to  be  dominated  by  the  monasteries.  These  rise 
from  the  bold  summits,  perch  on  the  outstanding  crags, 
hang  against  the  sheer  mountain  walls,  lie  gently  on  the 
lower  slopes.  The  majority  are  Maronite,  but  among  these 
are  establishments  belonging  to  the  Syrian  Catholics  and 
to  the  Armenian  Catholics.  Some  occupy  the  veritable 
heathen  "high  places"  of  old.  Above  the  ravine  of  the 
Beyrout  River  is  the  Maronite  Deir-el-Qula'a,  or  Convent  of 
the  Castle,  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  temple,  whose  massive 
walls  and  pillars  may  still  be  seen  in  ruins.  In  the  name  of 
the  site  of  the  Armenian  Catholic  monastery,  B'zummar 
(house  of  singing),  there  may  be  an  echo  of  some  former 
Baal  worship. 

During  the  early  days  of  monasticism  in  the  Lebanon, 


120     CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

however,  the  salient  sites  were  not  chosen.  Monks  sought 
rather  the  ravines  and  mountain  clefts,  not  only  because 
these  were  more  fitted  for  the  solitary  life,  but  probably  also 
for  prudential  reasons.  Around  the  irregular  plateau  of  the 
cedars,  which  has  an  elevation  of  some  six  thousand  five 
hundred  feet,  mountains  from  three  thousand  to  four  thou- 
sand feet  higher  sweep  in  a  vast  half-circle.  The  plateau 
terminates  abruptly  in  a  falling  precipice,  in  the  face  of  which 
a  cavern  sends  forth  a  stream  tumbling  in  a  series  of  cascades 
and  soon  entering  the  deep  canyon  once  formed  by  itself. 
This  is  the  gorge  of  the  Qadisha,  or  Sacred  River,  thus 
named,  probably,  because  from  the  earliest  times  it  was  the 
refuge  of  hermits.  Indeed,  a  handful  of  these  may  be  found 
here  to-day,  and  also  in  the  gorge  of  the  Dog  River.  Near 
the  head  of  the  Qadisha  canyon  is  the  ancient  Convent  of 
Mar  Elisha'.  While  groping  among  its  dim  corridors  and 
musty  cells,  the  visitor  finds  it  hard  to  distinguish  between 
built  masonry  and  the  wall  of  the  mountain.  From  the  win- 
ter isolation  of  this  convent  the  monks  may  now  escape  to 
a  fine  new  establishment  built  high  up  on  the  edge  of  the 
opposite  cliff. 

A  few  miles  farther  down  where  the  gorge  is  over  fifteen 
hundred  feet  deep,  crouching  under  the  cliffs  some  three 
hundred  feet  above  the  stream,  is  the  famous  convent  of 
Qannubin  (dedicated  to  the  Virgin),  built  according  to 
tradition  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius  in  the  fourth  century. 
The  chapel,  which  is  built  into  a  cave,  opens  on  an  irregular 
court-yard  surrounded  by  rooms,  some  of  great  antiquity, 
some  quite  modern.  The  vaulted  roof  and  walls  of  the 
chapel  were  once  covered  with  frescoes,  but  at  the  time  of 
my  visit  in  1889  the  priest  explained  to  me  with  some  pride 
that  in  the  interests  of  neatness  he  had  whitewashed  the 
entire  interior  except  the  bit  over  the  altar!  This  fresco 
represents  a  company  of  kneeling  patriarchs,  with  a  num- 
ber of  violin-bearing  cherubs  hovering  over  them.  Qan- 
nubin has  been  for  centuries  the  titular  residence  of  the 
patriarchs,  who  still  in  the  summer  occupy  the  monastery 
of  B'diman,  on  the  top  of  the  opposite  cliff,  wintering,  as 
we  have  seen,  at  B'kerky,  near  Beyrout. 


THE  MONASTERIES  121 

A  few  miles  below  Qannubin  a  smaller  side  gorge  enters 
the  Qadtsha  Valley  from  the  south.  Under  the  eternal 
frown  of  its  mountain  walls  stands  the  locally  celebrated 
monastery  of  Mar  Antanius  Qozhay'ya.  The  best  approach 
is  from  Eh'den,  which  lies  on  the  hills  above.  As  the  rough 
and  tortuous  path  approaches  the  convent,  it  passes  between 
two  rock  pinnacles  joined  above  by  an  arch  surmounted 
by  a  cross.  The  present  monastery,  one  of  the  richest  in  the 
Lebanon,  was  built  in  1732,  and  contains  over  one  hundred 
monks.  There  is  a  printing-press,  whence  Arabic  and 
Syriac  books  have  been  issued.  But  the  interest  of  Qoz- 
hayya  centres  in  a  cave,  not  far  from  the  convent,  which 
pierces  far  into  the  mountain  above.  Here,  so  runs  the 
legend,  once  slept  Saint  Anthony  himself,  when  he  came 
from  Egypt  to  visit  the  Lebanon  hermits.  Hence  to  this  con- 
vent and  cave  are  brought  the  "  possessed  "  of  all  creeds,  in- 
cluding Moslems  and  Druses,  that  Saint  Anthony  may  drive 
out  the  evil  spirit.  As  we  walked  about  the  place  together, 
a  priest  told  me  that  sometimes  the  patients  are  cured  by 
simply  passing  under  the  arch  and  cross,  which  are  over 
the  approaching  path;  others,  when  they  enter  the  convent- 
ual precincts;  and  still  others  in  the  church,  where  a  priest 
exorcises  the  evil  spirit  by  adjuring  him  in  the  name  of  God, 
and  beating  the  patient  on  the  head,  sometimes  with  a  shoe. 
If  the  spirit  will  not  leave  the  man,  he  is  taken  into  the 
cave,  where  an  iron  collar  is  fastened  around  his  neck.  If 
violent,  his  limbs  are  shackled.  A  number  of  madmen  may 
be  chained  in  the  cave  at  the  same  time.  The  priest  in 
charge  visits  the  cave  occasionally,  giving  the  patients  to 
drink  of  the  holy  water  which  drops  from  the  roof,  but 
feeding  them  very  little.  The  cure  is  assured  when  the 
patient  is  found  without  the  collar.  Its  removal  is  said  to  be 
the  work  of  Saint  Anthony,  whose  appearance  is  sometimes 
described  by  the  victims.  If  no  cure  is  effected  the  priests 
conclude  that  the  man  has  no  devil  to  be  exorcised,  but 
only  a  disease  of  the  brain  for  which-  the  place  professes  to 
have  no  cure!  That  belief  in  diabolical  possession  is  strong 
in  the  land  is  indicated  by  the  ordinary  Arabic  term  for 
insane,  "mejnun',"  which  is,  literally,  "possessed  by  a  jinn, 


122      CONSTITUTION  OF  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

or  spirit."  The  exorcist  is  still  a  recognized  functionary  in 
the  Maronite  Church,  and  in  recent  times  devils  have  been 
cast  out  not  only  at  Qozhayya,  but  in  some  of  the  village 
churches.1 

Other  Maronite  monasteries  besides  Qozhayya  possess 
valuable  assets  in  the  alleged  healing  powers  of  the  patron 
saint.  Some  of  these  are  specialists.  At  the  convent  of 
Mar  No'hara  (Lugius)  there  is  a  well  of  water  said  to  be 
good  for  weak  eyes.  Mar  'Ab'da  el-Mashum'mar  is  visited 
by  barren  women  who  desire  children.  Mar  Shalli'ta,  the 
patron  of  animals,  is  invoked  when  mules  are  sick  or  mares 
will  not  bear.  Pebbles  from  the  convent  of  Mar  Dhu'mit, 
which  stands  near  the  sea-shore,  in  the  vicinity  of  Jebail 
(Byblos),  are  blessed  by  the  saint  to  the  cure  of  rheumatism. 
Mar  Ruha'na  is  supposed  to  cure  hernia.  Mar  Ephraem 
is  the  patron  of  memory.  Miracle-working  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  saints  who  lived  in  early  times.  Some  fifty 
years  ago  a  holy  monk  called  Na'amtal'lah  el-Hardi'ny  was 
buried  in  a  vault  of  the  convent  of  K'fefan'.  Some  two 
years  later  it  was  found  that  his  body  had  not  decayed,  but, 
though  dried  up,  preserved  perfectly  the  form  and  features 
of  the  monk.  Thus  K'f£fan'  began  at  once  to  attract 
hundreds  of  sick  folk  who  sought  cure  from  the  new  saint, 
bringing  much  gain  to  the  coffers  of  the  establishment. 

1  Up  to  the  year  1900  there  was  no  establishment  in  Syria  and  Pal- 
estine for  the  scientific  treatment  of  mental  disease.  In  that  year  the 
Lebanon  Hospital  for  the  Insane  was  established  by  Theophilus  Wald- 
meier  at  the  'Asfuri'yeh,  near  Beyrout. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 
INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

IN  considering  the  ritual  of  the  five  chief  Eastern  churches 
of  Syria  and  Palestine,  we  shall  find  that  we  are  dealing 
with  three  types  only:  the  Greek,  the  Syrian,  and  the 
Maronite,  for  the  Greek  Catholic  and  the  Syrian  Catholic 
communions  made  little  alteration  in  the  ritual  practised 
by  the  churches  whose  authority  they  exchanged  for  that  of 
Rome.  Indeed,  broadly  speaking,  the  types  are  only  two, 
the  Byzantine  and  the  Syrian.  Up  to  the  twelfth  century 
the  history  of  the  Maronites  formed  but  a  part  of  the  gen- 
eral history  of  the  Syrian  Church,  and  to  this  day  they  have 
in  common  a  number  of  anaphorse,  or  liturgies,  while  their 
other  services  are  similar. 

The  official  language  of  the  Holy  Orthodox  Church,  with 
its  derivative,  the  Greek  Catholic  Melchite  Church,  is  the 
ancient  Greek.  The  main  service  books,  however,  have 
been  translated  into  the  national  languages  of  all  the  coun- 
tries where  the  Greek  Church  is  organized.  The  natives  of 
Syria  and  Palestine  have  a  peculiar  advantage  in  their  Ara- 
bic versions.  The  ability  of  the  common  people  to  under- 
stand the  services  varies  much  with  different  countries.  In 
Bulgaria,  for  example,  the  translation  was  made  into  the 
ancient  Slavic  language,  little  of  which  is  now  comprehensi- 
ble to  the  uneducated.1  In  the  Arabic  translation,  on  the 
other  hand,  while  the  classical  language  is  also  employed, 
this  can  readily  be  followed  by  the  masses,  though  of  course 
they  could  not  speak  it.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Protes- 
tant translation  of  the  Bible.  In  Syria  and  Palestine  the 

1  The  gospel  is  now  read  in  modern  Bulgarian. 
123 


124     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Orthodox  parish  priest  does  not  need  to  know  any  Greek 
beyond  a  few  phrases,  such  as  Kyric  eleison,  for  all  services, 
including  the  mass,  are  read  from  the  authorized  Arabic 
translations.  At  Jerusalem,  in  the  Anastasis  (commonly 
known  as  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre)  Greek  is  the 
only  language  used,  as  the  officiating  clergy  are  Ionian  Greek 
monks.  In  the  cathedral  church  of  Damascus  (the  seat 
of  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  who  is  at  present  a  native  Syr- 
ian) the  two  languages  are  used  indifferently;  the  singers 
on  one  side  may  chant  in  Arabic  while  those  on  the  other 
are  using  Greek.  Less  concession  is  made  to  the  vernac- 
ular by  the  Syrian  and  Maronite  churches,  whose  sacred 
language  is  ancient  Syriac.  The  commonest  service  of  all, 
the  mass,  is  entirely  in  Syriac,  though  in  the  Maronite 
liturgies  a  few  authorized  Arabic  phrases  may  be  substi- 
tuted.1 On  the  other  hand,  the  marriage  and  baptismal 
services  of  the  Maronites,  together  with  many  others,  are 
in  Arabic.  This  holds  true  of  similar  services  among  the 
Jacobites  and  Syrian  Catholics.  The  books  containing 
these  are  written  or  printed  in  Syriac  character,  this  com- 
bination of  Arabic  words  and  Syrian  form  being  known  as 
Karshuni.  Both  types  of  service  books,  the  Greek  and  the 
Syrian,  are  teeming  with  passages  of  profound  spirituality 
clothed  in  language  noble  and  poetic.  Large  parts  of  the 
services  are  rendered  in  weird  Oriental  chants.  The  ser- 
vice books  of  the  Greek  Church  are  in  fourteen  quarto 
volumes.  They  would  appear  to  cover  every  possible  oc- 
casion. There  are,  for  example,  prayers  to  be  used  by  the 
priest  when  a  corner-stone  is  laid,  when  a  threshing-floor  is 
constructed,  when  a  well  is  dug,  when  a  well  is  polluted, 
when  insects  must  be  conjured  from  the  vines,  when  devils 
must  be  exorcised,  when  silk-worms  are  being  cultivated, 
when  a  sick  man  cannot  sleep,  when  one  has  been  harmed 
by  the  evil-eye. 

1 1  was  told  by  a  former  Jacobite  sub-deacon  from  Mosul  that  he 
himself,  by  the  advice  of  the  priest  (who  was  following  a  precedent), 
once  made,  during  service,  an  at-sight  translation  of  the  epistle  into 
Arabic,  pronouncing  in  Syriac  the  words  he  did  not  understand!  The 
gospel  is  always  read  in  the  vernacular. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  125 

The  interiors  of  all  Eastern  churches  except  the  Maronite 
differ  from  those  of  Western  churches  in  the  use  of  a  screen 
to  divide  nave  and  sanctuary,  entirely  shutting  off  the  latter 
from  the  view  of  the  congregation.  This  division  has  its 
origin  in  the  conception  of  the  mass  as  a  mystery  which 
should  be  celebrated  by  the  priest  in  secret.  As  has  already 
been  noticed,  ruined  Maronite  churches  in  Batrun,  where 
the  screens  may  still  be  seen,  testify  that  the  complete  con- 
formity of  this  communion  to  Roman  custom  in  the  matter 
of  internal  church  arrangement  is  but  recent.  In  the  Greek 
Church  the  screen  is  called  the  ikonostasis,  as  upon  it  are 
hung  the  ikons.  These  may  be  pictures  painted  on  a  flat 
surface,  or  may  be  metal  representations  in  low  relief  which 
are  not  supposed  to  contravene  the  unwritten  law  of  the 
Orthodox  Church  forbidding  statues  in  the  round.1  The 
ikonostasis  may  be  merely  a  plain  stone  wall  rising  to  the 
ceiling,  as  found  in  the  old  church  of  the  village  of  Mahardy, 
in  northern  Syria;  or  it  may  be  a  real  ornamental  screen  made 
of  stone  or  of  marble;  or  it  may  consist  of  wood,  elaborately 
carved  and  overlaid  with  gilt  or  painted  in  rich,  sombre 
colors.  It  should  have  at  least  three  openings  which  may  or 
may  not  be  fitted  with  wooden  doors,  but  curtains  are  al- 
ways found  in  the  Orthodox  and  Jacobite  churches,  not 
always  in  the  United  churches.  In  some  large  buildings 
there  are  five  doors;  the  Greek  Catholic  cathedral  at  Da- 
mascus has  nine,  with  a  curtain  hung  only  before  the  central 
opening,  called  the  royal  gates,  in  front  of  the  high  altar. 
In  the  Orthodox  Church  all  curtains  are  drawn  aside  dur- 
ing the  week  following  Easter.  The  ikons  or  pictures  are 
usually  of  the  unchanged  Byzantine  type,  but  modern  art 
is  creeping  in.  At  the  right  of  the  royal  gates  is  the  picture 

1  The  permission  in  the  Orthodox  Church  to  use  ikons  while  statues 
are  practically  forbidden  presents,  in  the  words  of  Tozer  ("  The  Church 
and  the  Eastern  Empire,"  p.  125),  "a  curious  anomaly."  He  calls 
it  "a  distinct  departure  from  the  principles  of  the  Seventh  General 
Council  "  (which  restored  the  images),  a  change  that  "must  have  been 
brought  about  very  gradually;  so  much  so  that  no  trace  remains  to  us 
of  the  steps  by  which  it  came  to  pass."  It  is  quite  possible  that  the 
Greeks  may  have  been  unconsciously  influenced  by  the  abhorrence  of 
images  felt  by  their  Moslem  masters. 


126     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

of  Christ;  at  the  left,  that  of  the  Virgin.  To  the  left  of  this 
may  hang  the  ikon  of  the  patron  saint.  Saint  George,  the 
Forty  Martyrs,  etc.,  are  common  subjects.  Sometimes  pict- 
ures of  the  twelve  apostles  are  ranged  along  the  top  of  the 
ikonostasis.  Pictures  in  modern  style  may  be  found  in 
the  United  churches;  with  the  Maronites  the  seven  stations 
of  the  cross  are  common.  Parry  states  that  the  only  pict- 
ure strictly  allowed  in  Syrian  churches  is  a  portrait  of  the 
founder  frescoed  on  the  wall.  He  adds  that  most  churches 
contain  pictures  either  as  frescos  or  framed  paintings,  but 
that  these  are  modern  and  little  venerated.1  Some  years  ago 
I  found  elaborate  frescos,  by  no  means  modern,  on  the 
walls  of  the  Jacobite  church  at  Sudud,  representing,  among 
other  subjects,  a  spirited  fresco  of  the  last  judgment,  and 
a  picture  of  a  robust  sea-monster  either  swallowing  or  dis- 
charging the  Prophet  Jonah,  who  was  dressed  in  full  epis- 
copal canonicals,  with  meekly  folded  arms. 

The  sanctuary  (Arabic:  hai'kal,  or  temple)  is  usually 
approached  by  one  step.  In  Greek  churches  the  central 
part  is  called  the  bema,  the  northern  part  the  prothesis,  and 
the  southern  part  the  vestry;  but  often  the  three  parts  form 
a  single  chamber.  At  the  east  end  there  is  usually  an  apse, 
where  is  placed  the  patriarch's  chair.  At  the  cathedral 
church  of  Saint  Mark's,  at  Alexandria,  the  apse  is  stepped, 
as  in  the  old  basilicas,  the  patriarchal  throne  being  in  the 
centre  of  the  top  step,  while  the  bishops  are  ranged  around.2 
The  patriarch  also  has  a  chair  in  the  nave.  The  high  altar 
is  called,  both  in  Greek  and  in  Arabic,  simply  the  table. 
It  is  often,  but  not  necessarily,  surmounted  by  a  canopy 
or  dome,  supported  by  four  pillars,  like  an  open  belfry.3 
This  is  wanting  in  the  cathedral  church  of  Alexandria. 
On  the  table  should  always  be  found  a  cross,  a  lighted 

1  See  "Six  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery,"  p.  334,  by  O.  H.  Parry 
(London,  1895). 

2  A  similar  stepped  apse  was  found  near  the  pool  of  Siloam  in  exca- 
vating a  church  dating  from  the  fifth  or  sixth  century.     The  steps, 
however,  were  too  narrow  for  seats.     See  "  Excavations  at  Jerusalem, 
1894-1897,"  p.  204,  plate  18,  by  Bliss  and  Dickie. 

3  Found  also  in  Jacobite  churches. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  127 

lamp,  the  ciborium  ("house  of  the  body,"  in  Arabic), 
and  the  Gospels,  which  rest  on  the  sacred  cloth  called  the 
antimins.  Any  table  may  be  temporarily  converted  into 
an  altar  if  the  antimins  be  placed  thereon.  In  large 
churches  there  may  be  two  smaller  altars  to  the  north  and 
south  of  the  high  altar.1  In  Saint  Mark's,  at  Alexandria, 
these  are  actually  parts  of  the  building,  being  merely  shelves 
in  circular  niches  in  the  east  wall  of  the  church.  Such  a 
shelf  constitutes,  in  most  churches  of  the  East,  the  table 
of  oblations,  or  medhbah,  literally  the  place  of  sacrifice, 
where  the  holy  gifts  are  prepared  in  connection  with  an 
elaborate  service,  to  be  noticed  later.  Each  separate  table 
must  have  its  own  medhbah  to  the  north.  Where  there  is 
but  one  table  the  medhbah  is  supposed  to  be  in  the  pro- 
thesis;  however,  at  the  Manardy  Church,  where  the  sanct- 
uary is  actually  divided  into  three  separate  rooms,  the 
medhbah  is  a  small  wooden  table  in  the  bema  itself,  to  the 
north  of  the  altar.  In  the  east  wall  of  the  cathedral 
church  of  Alexandria  there  are  six  circular  niches  of  equal 
size,  three  to  the  north  and  three  to  the  south  of  the  great 
altar.  The  shelf  of  the  first  niche  to  the  north  constitutes 
the  medhbah  of  this  great  table  or  altar;  the  second  shelf 
stands  for  another  table  or  altar,  having  for  its  medhbah 
the  third  shelf.  The  first  niche  to  the  south  contains  the 
medhbah  of  the  third  altar,  which  is  constituted  by  the 
shelf  of  the  second  niche;  the  third  niche  is  not  used.  In 
the  Greek  Catholic  churches  side  altars  have  been  intro- 
duced in  the  nave. 

In  the  Orthodox  churches  the  nave  is  usually  bare  of 
seats,  as  it  is  the  practice  for  the  men  to  stand  during  the 
service,  but  there  may  be  stalls  at  the  sides  for  the  aged 
and  infirm.  Benches,  however,  are  coming  into  use  in  the 
United  churches.  At  the  west  end  there  is  a  gallery  for 
women.  In  churches  where  there  is  a  pulpit,  this  is  usually 
attached  to  the  north-west  pillar,  being  approached  by  a 
circular  stair.  From  this  pulpit  the  deacon  should  read 
the  gospel.  The  baptismal  font  is  sometimes  found  in  the 
south-west  corner.  In  front  of  the  screen  on  either  side  of 

1  Found  also  in  Jacobite  churches. 


128     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

the  royal  gates  are  desks  for  the  singers.  The  Eastern 
churches  have  no  organs.1  Though  in  general  the  interior 
arrangement  of  all  Maronite  churches  is  modelled  on  the 
Roman  Catholic,  sometimes  a  latticed  screen  may  be  found 
shutting  off  the  western  third  of  the  nave  for  the  use  of 
women. 

The  older  village  churches  are  all  dark,  the  only  windows 
being  small  openings  very  high  up.  In  former  times  there 
was  little  difference  between  the  appearance  of  the  churches 
and  that  of  the  ordinary  square,  flat-roofed  houses.  But 
it  is  now  customary  to  build  at  one  of  the  corners  of  the 
roof  a  light  open  belfry,  with  a  dome,  which  is  sometimes 
surrounded  by  four  ornamental  chalices,  and  is  always 
topped  with  a  cross.  In  the  cities,  among  all  communions, 
large  windows  and  tiled  roofs  are  coming  into  fashion. 

I.    THE  EASTERN  LITURGIES 

The  liturgies  used  by  the  churches  of  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine are  all  derived  from  the  ancient  Greek  liturgy  of  Saint 
James,  and  thus  belong  to  the  Hierosolymitan  family  of 
liturgies.2  Those  used  by  the  Greek  Churches  are  of  the 
Byzantine  branch,  while  the  numerous  liturgies  of  the 
Syrian  and  Maronite  Churches,  called  also  anaphorse,  de- 
scend through  the  Syriac  Saint  James,  which  itself  was 
translated  from  the  Greek  Saint  James.3  The  Orthodox 
Church  employs  four  liturgies.  These  communion  services 
are  much  longer  and  more  elaborate  than  the  Roman 
mass,  teeming  with  a  greater  volume  and  variety  of  sym- 

1  There  is  an  organ  in  the  Maronite  cathedral  at  Beyrout  and  in  the 
chapels  of  some  of  the  schools,  but  the  innovation  is  recent. 

2  The  term  liturgy  is  here  used  in  its  technical  sense  for  the  office  of 
the  mass. 

3  See  the  following  works:  "The  Liturgies  of  Saint  Mark,  Saint  James, 
Saint  Clement,  Saint  Chrysostom,  and  the  Church  of  Malabar,"  trans- 
lated by  Rev.  J.  M.  Neale  (London,  1860).     Also,  "  Praelectiones  de 
Liturgiis  Orientalibus,  habitae  in  Universitate  Friburgensi  Helvetia,  a 
Maximiliano,  principe  Saxoniae.     Friburgi  Briscoviae,  sumptibus  Herder, 
Typographi  editoris  pontificii.     MCMVIII."     Also  "Liturgies  Eastern 
and  Western,"  by  F.  E.  Brightman  (Oxford,  1896). 


THE  EASTERN  LITURGIES  129 

bolism.  Though  screened  from  the  eyes  of  the  people  by 
the  ikonostasis,  save  at  such  moments  when  the  doors  are 
opened,  the  ceremonies  are  essentially  more  spectacular  and 
dramatic  than  is  the  Roman  function.  The  service  in  or- 
dinary daily  use  is  the  liturgy  of  Saint  Chrysostom,  an 
abbreviation  of  that  of  Saint  Basil.  The  latter  is  said  on 
Christmas  and  Epiphany,  when  falling  on  Sunday  or  Mon- 
day, otherwise  on  their  eves,  and  on  the  first  Tuesday  after 
Christmas.  The  liturgy  of  the  presanctified,  which  will 
be  explained  later,  is  said  on  Wednesday  and  Friday  of  the 
first  six  weeks  of  Lent,  on  Thursday  of  the  fifth  week,  and 
on  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday  of  Holy  Week,  and 
may  be  said  on  certain  other  days  of  Lent.  In  the  Ortho- 
dox Church  mass  may  be  said  only  once  a  day  at  a  given 
altar.  In  the  large  churches  the  three  masses  celebrated 
on  the  great  feast  must  be  said  by  different  priests  at  the 
three  altars  in  turn.  The  Greek  Catholic  Church  permits 
the  same  altar  to  be  used  more  than  once  the  same  day. 

The  number  of  extant  Syrian  liturgies — both  Jacobite 
and  Maronite — is  over  forty.  The  Old  Syrian  or  Jacobite 
Church  still  uses  a  great  number  of  these.  The  printed 
Maronite  collection  contains  eight  and  the  Syrian  Catholic 
seven.  At  my  request  a  comparison  between  the  two  col- 
lections was  made  by  a  professor  in  a  Syrian  Catholic  sem- 
inary, who  found  that  they  have  three  in  common,  being 
identical  not  only  in  title,  but  in  substance,  i.  e.,  those  of 
Saint  James,  Saint  Peter,  and  Saint  Zystos,  the  pope.  The 
liturgy  most  commonly  used  by  the  Maronites  is  an  adapta- 
tion of  the  Roman  mass.1  In  general  much  liberty  is  left 
to  the  celebrant  in  the  use  of  these  various  anaphorae, 
though  some  are  appointed  for  feast  days  and  other  occa- 
sions.2 For  example,  in  the  Maronite  Church  the  anaphora 
of  Saint  James  should  be  said  not  only  on  his  feast,  but  also 

1  Prince  Maximilian  states  (tomus  I,  p.  12)  that  this  liturgy  was  com- 
posed by  the  Maronites  in  Syriac,  having  some  prayers  similar  to  those 
in  the  Roman  rite,  but  I  was  informed  on  authority  at  the  Beyrout 
Maronite  College  that  it  is  mainly  a  translation  from  the  Roman  mass. 

2 1  was  assured  by  a  Maronite  chorepiscopus  that  he  was  at  liberty 
to  use  any  one  of  the  eight  anaphorae  to  the  exclusion  of  all  the  rest. 


130     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

at  the  consecration  of  priests.  In  this  church  mass  may 
be  celebrated  at  the  same  altar  by  different  priests  succeed- 
ing each  other  on  the  same  day.  The  Jacobite  Church 
absolutely  forbids  this  Roman  practice,  thus  agreeing  with 
the  Greek  Orthodox. 

While  confession  before  communion  is  obligatory  in  all 
the  Eastern  churches  under  consideration,  the  discipline  is 
not  always  imposed  with  severity.  The  Oriental  Greek 
Church  provides  a  long  and  elaborate  order  of  confession, 
to  be  read  separately  over  each  person  desiring  to  com- 
municate. In  it  the  doctrine  is  clearly  set  forth  that,  while 
the  priest  has  authority  to  pronounce  absolution,  confes- 
sion is  not  made  to  him,  but  through  him  to  Almighty  God, 
who  alone  can  forgive  sin.  To  follow  this  long  order 
would  be  impracticable  in  the  case  of  a  large  number  of 
penitents,  and  a  parish  priest  tells  me  that  it  is  now  rarely 
used,  a  short  informal  service,  without  book,  being  sub- 
stituted. The  people  may  be  confessed  in  church  or  in 
their  own  homes.  The  priest  repeats  the  ten  command- 
ments, demanding  whether  these  have  been  broken.  He 
may  put  other  questions,  the  number  and  character  vary- 
ing with  his  knowledge  of  the  penitent,  but  the  minute 
catechising,  sometimes  obtaining  in  the  Roman  Church,  is 
unknown  or  is  at  least  very  rare.  For  the  absolution  may 
be  repeated  any  one  of  the  seven  prayers  to  be  found  in  the 
formal  order  of  confession.  In  Jerusalem  and  vicinity,  to 
the  rule  of  the  Orthodox  Church  that  no  priest  who  has  not 
been  married  may  confess  the  people,  is  added  the  further 
practical  restriction  that  a  priest  may  not  hear  confession 
unless  he  is  the  father  of  children !  In  fact,  until  that  time 
he  is  not  called  "khuri,"  but  only  "qussis,"  a  term  also 
applied  to  a  celibate  priest  or  monk  in  orders.  Penance  is 
imposed  in  the  Greek  Church,  but  the  sacrament  has  never 
developed  into  the  elaborate  system  found  in  the  West. 

Confession  is  technically  required  in  the  Syrian-Jacobite 
Church,  but  laxity  in  enforcing  this  sacrament  has  been 
charged  upon  the  Jacobite  priests  since  the  time  of  the 
Crusaders.  Jacques  de  Vitry,  Bishop  of  Acre  in  1217,  de- 
clared that  the  Jacobites  "  confess  their  sins  not  to  priests, 


THE  EASTERN  LITURGIES  131 

but  to  God  alone  in  secret,  setting  frankincense  on  fire  be- 
side them,  as  though  their  sins  would  ascend  to  God  in  the 
smoke  thereof."  In  recent  times  Parry  makes  the  broad 
generalization  that  confession  is  "almost  obsolete"  in  this 
church.2  He  adds  that  it  is  doubtful  if  it  ever  implied  any 
more  than  a  formal  confession  of  sin,  as  it  is  the  custom, 
where  confession  is  made,  for  several  to  confess  together 
at  the  steps  of  the  altar.  Parry's  statemen.  was  only  par- 
tially confirmed  for  northern  Syria,  where  I  was  informed 
that  the  service  might  be  read  over  a  number  of  penitents 
together,  but  that  each  must  make  confession  separately. 
According  to  another  account  given  me  by  a  man  from 
Mosul,  the  penitent  kneels  by  himself  before  the  priest, 
who  is  seated  on  the  floor  of  the  church.  After  repeating 
the  formula  of  confession,  and  detailing  his  sins,  the  penitent 
answers  the  questions  of  the  priest,  who  then  gives  good 
advice  and  pronounces  absolution.  Women  must  never 
confess  to  an  unmarried  priest.  A  Jacobite  told  me  that 
his  father  received  especial  permission  from  the  bishop  to 
commune  without  confession.  The  laxity  of  the  Jacobite 
clergy  in  this  matter  is  further  illustrated  by  the  case  of  two 
American  travellers  to  whom,  quite  recently,  the  Jacobite 
priest  of  Sudud  (on  the  edge  of  the  Syrian  desert)  insisted 
on  giving  the  communion  at  the  mass,  even  when  they  de- 
clared themselves  to  be  Protestants  who  do  not  confess  to 
a  priest. 

In  the  Greek  Church3  the  liturgy  is  preceded  by  an  elab- 
orate service,  lasting  about  an  hour,  during  which  the  ele- 
ments are  prepared  for  consecration.  At  the  time  of  the 
great  schism,  one  of  the  chief  questions  in  dispute  was 
whether  leavened  or  unleavened  bread  should  be  used  in 
the  communion.  The  Eastern  church  stood  for  the  former, 

1 "  Historia  Hierosolymitana  Abbreviata."  Latin  found  in  Bongars's 
"Gesta  Dei  per  Francos."  Our  quotation  is  from  the  translation  in  the 
eleventh  volume  of  the  Palestine  Pilgrims'  Text  Society's  Works,  p.  73. 

2  "Six  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery,"  p.  342,  by  Oswald  H.  Parry 
(London,  1895). 

3  When  no  exception  is  stated,  it  may  be  assumed  that  under  this 
phrase  the  Greek  Catholic  Church  is  also  included. 


132     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

the  Church  of  Rome  for  the  latter.  After  its  closer  union 
with  Rome,  the  Maronite  Church  adopted  the  use  of  the 
leavened  bread,  as  have  also  the  Abyssinian  Catholics,  but 
the  other  Uniate  churches  still  follow  the  Eastern  custom. 
The  Greek  Catholic  Church,  in  its  Council  of  1806,  declared 
the  matter  to  be  indifferent,  thus  justifying  its  own  use  of 
the  leavened  bread  while  at  the  same  time  not  condemning 
the  Roman  practice.1  In  the  Greek  churches — both  Ortho- 
dox and  United — the  loaves  or  cakes  used  in  the  ordinary 
mass  are  furnished  by  the  priest,  being  usually  prepared  by 
his  wife  with  the  family  baking.  They  measure  about  five 
inches  in  diameter  and  one-half  inch  in  thickness.  They 
are  solid  all  through,  and  not  hollow,  as  is  much  of  the 
native  bread.  In  the  centre  is  stamped  a  seal  measuring 


1C 

XC 

NI 

KA 

one  and  a  half  inches  across,  with  an  abbreviation  of 
the  Greek  sentence:  'Irjo-ofc  ypurrfa  Nt/ca  ("Jesus  Christ 
conquers").  This  seal  is  known  in  ordinary  Arabic  as  the 
"  je'sed,"  or  body.  The  whole  cake  is  called  the  "qurban," 
or  the  "oblation."  On  the  Saturdays  especially  set  apart 
for  the  commemoration  of  the  dead  (as  well  as  on  other 
similar  but  less  formal  occasions)  loaves  or  cakes  of  pre- 
cisely the  same  kind  are  furnished  by  the  people. 

Several  varying  customs  obtain  in  the  Jacobite  Church  in 
the  matter  of  furnishing  the  bread.  I  was  told  by  a  former 
"deacon"  in  northern  Syria  that  the  people  used  to  bring 

1  The  acts  of  this  council  were  never  ratified  by  Rome. 


THE  EASTERN  LITURGIES  133 

flour  to  the  church  on  Saturday  night  in  small  bags.  The 
priest,  after  noting  the  amount  brought  by  each,  would  mix 
the  portions  together,  so  that  each  contributor  might  feel 
that  his  flour  entered  into  the  composition  of  the  one  loaf 
to  be  consecrated  later.  He  then  would  sift  the  flour,  re- 
serving the  finer  portion  for  the  church  and  keeping  the 
rest  himself.  The  dough  should  be  kneaded  by  a  virgin, 
or  by  a  young  man,  and  baked  in  the  house,  not  in  the 
public  oven.  The  cakes  are  much  smaller  and  thinner  than 
those  used  in  the  Greek  Church,  being  barely  two  inches 
across.  They  may  be  stamped  in  several  ways:  with 
crosses,  or  with  a  dozen  rosettes,  divided  in  four  parts  by 
a  cross  (the  specimen  of  this  variety  which  I  have  seen 
came  from  a  Syriac  Catholic  Church),  or,  on  Maundy 
Thursday,  with  the  emblem  of  a  lamb.1  My  north  Syrian 
informant  added  that  at  the  present  time  it  is  customary 
for  the  people  to  substitute  for  the  weekly  contribution  of 
flour  a  certain  amount  of  corn,  presented  to  the  priest 
annually.  A  similar  custom  holds  at  Mosul,  where  the 
people  at  odd  times  may  make  contributions  of  flour  to  the 
qandaleft,  or  sexton,  who  is  responsible  for  the  making  up 
of  the  loaves.  In  Mardin  the  flour  is  said  to  be  bought  by 
the  church. 

The  Preparation  of  the  elements  is  performed  at  the  table 
of  oblations  or  small  altar  in  the  prothesis;  but,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  this  may  be  no  more  than  a  shelf  in  a 
niche  of  the  east  wall,  to  the  north  of  the  high  altar.  In 
Arabic  the  small  table  or  niche  is  called  the  medhbah,  or 
altar  of  sacrifice,  and  the  high  altar,  simply  the  mayyidi,  or 
the  table.  While  the  Preparation2  is  in  progress  the  people 
may  be  present  in  the  nave  of  the  church,  if  they  so  desire, 
but  they  see  and  hear  nothing  of  the  service  which  is  said 

1  The  Abyssinian  oblation  sometimes  bears  the  figures  of  Christ  and 
the  twelve  Apostles. 

2  At  least  two  forms  of  this  service  exist.     One  simply  called  "The 
Arrangement "  may  be  found  in  a  work  in  Greek  and  English  called 
"The  Divine  and  Sacred  Liturgies  of  Our  Fathers  among  the  Saints 
John  Chrysostom  and  Basil  the  Great,"  edited  by  J.  N.  W.  Robert- 
son (London).     In  the  liturgy  published  in  Greek  and  Arabic  at  the 


134     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

"secretly,"  or  whispered,  as  indeed  are  many  prayers  of  the 
liturgy  itself.  The  service  begins  with  the  sacrifice.  For 
this  is  used  one  of  the  five  stamped  loaves,  called  oblations, 
or  qurbans  which  the  priest  has  brought  into  the  sanctuary, 
in  commemoration  of  the  five  loaves  of  the  miraculous  feed- 
ing.1 This  chosen  loaf  is  called  the  irpwrr].  Taking  this 
in  his  left  hand,  the  priest,  using  a  small  knife  called  the 
lance,  with  his  right  cuts  out  the  stamped  seal,  or  the 
"  je'sed"  (leaving,  however,  the  under  crust  intact),  quoting 
at  each  incision  phrases  from  the  passage  beginning  "He 
was  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter"  (Isaiah  53).  The  seal 
is  then  placed  inverted  on  the  paten  for  the  sacrifice.  This 
is  symbolized  by  two  deep  incisions  made  in  the  form  of  a 
cross  (corresponding  to  the  divisions  of  the  seal),  but  these 
do  not  penetrate  the  upper  crust,  which  thus  serves  to  hold 
the  parts  together  when  the  seal  is  turned  right  side  upward 
on  the  paten.  The  priest  then  pierces  the  right  side  with 
the  lance,  repeating  the  verse  describing  the  piercing  of  our 
Lord's  side  from  which  came  forth  water  and  blood.  Im- 
mediately the  deacon — or  the  priest,  if  there  be  no  deacon 
present — pours  wine  and  water  into  the  chalice. 

After  the  sacrifice  there  follows  the  preparation  for  the 
commemoration  of  the  living  and  the  dead.  The  seal  oc- 
cupies the  centre  of  the  paten.  To  the  right  of  this  is  now 
placed,  in  commemoration  of  the  Virgin,  a  triangle  of  bread 
smaller  than  the  seal.  This  may  be  cut  from  one  of  the 
other  four  cakes  or  from  the  remaining  portion  of  the 
qurban,  or  oblation,  from  which  the  seal  has  been  taken  for 
the  sacrifice.  I  was  told  by  a  parish  priest,  who  explained 
the  service  to  me,  that  this  oblation  was  held  in  more  es- 
pecial honor  than  the  rest.  In  a  similar  way,  nine  still 
smaller  portions — tiny  triangles  that  would  be  formed  by 

press  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  in  Jerusalem,  1907,  the  service  of  prepara- 
tion is  divided  into  two  parts,  the  first  part  is  used  during  the  robing 
of  the  priest,  the  washing  of  hands,  etc.,  and  the  second  during  the 
actual  preparation  of  the  elements.  The  first  portion  differs  considerably 
in  detail  from  the  corresponding  part  in  the  London  publication. 

1  In  the  Syrian  and  Coptic  Churches  three  or  more  cakes  are  brought 
into  the  sanctuary,  but  only  one  is  consecrated. 


1C 

XC 

NI 

KA 

3 

A  A  A 
A  A  A 
AAA 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  PORTIONS  OP  HOLY  BREAD  ON  PATEN 

1.  The  "  Seal  "  cut  from  the  centre  of  the  Communion  Loaf. 

2.  Large  triangle  to  commemorate  the  Virgin. 

3.  Small  triangles  to  commemorate  the  Archangels,    Prophets,  Apostles, 

Martyrs,  etc. 

4.  Crumbs  to  commemorate  the  Patriarch  or  Bishop,  Clergy  and  People — 

living  and  dead. 


THE  EASTERN  LITURGIES  135 

the  tip  of  the  lance — are  arranged  to  the  left  of  the  seal,  to 
commemorate  the  archangels,  prophets,  apostles,  martyrs, 
saints,  and  doctors  of  the  church.  The  patriarch,  or  bishop, 
of  the  diocese,  founders  of  the  church,  clergy,  and  people 
(living  and  dead)  are  symbolized  by  crumbs  placed  below 
the  seal,  to  an  indefinite  number.1  The  crumbs  may  be 
taken  from  any  one  of  the  five  loaves.  At  the  close  of  the 
preparation  these  portions,  small  and  great,  are  gathered 
together  with  a  sponge  under  the  seal,  awaiting  the  conse- 
cration at  the  liturgy  itself.  In  the  meantime  the  paten 
is  covered  with  three  veils,  the  corner  of  which  rests  on  the 
asterisk,  a  sort  of  frame  preventing  the  lowest  veil  from 
contact  with  the  holy  bread.  The  portions  of  the  oblations 
not  thus  reserved  for  consecration  and  communion  are  cut 
up  by  the  sexton,  to  constitute  the  anti-doron,  or  blessed 
bread,  which  is  distributed  to  the  people  after  the  liturgy, 
in  the  manner  of  the  pain  beni  used  in  France.2  As  the 
remaining  portions  of  the  oblation  from  which  the  seal,  or 
"  body, "  has  been  cut  are  mingled  with  the  rest,  they  are 
held  to  lend  a  certain  sanctity  to  all.  The  commemoration 
itself  immediately  succeeds  the  consecration  in  the  liturgy. 
On  the  two  Saturdays  dedicated  to  the  commemoration 
of  the  dead  (one  falling  eight  days  before  Lent  and  the 
other  on  the  Saturday  before  the  Transfiguration)  each 
family  may  bring  to  the  church  five  oblations,  or  loaves  of 
their  own  baking,  wrapped  in  a  cloth,  with  a  paper  inscribed 
with  names  of  their  dead.  Money  for  the  priest  is  also 
enclosed.  During  the  preparation  the  priest  takes  crumbs 
from  one  of  the  five  loaves  to  symbolize  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  dead  in  a  particular  family.  At  the  end  of  the 
mass  the  head  of  each  family  receives  back  his  qurban,  or 
oblation  (minus  the  parts  used  in  commemoration),  wrapped 
in  the  cloth.  The  rest  of  the  loaves,  which  at  any  given 
time  may  number  scores,  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  priest, 
to  break  up  for  distribution,  to  give  away  whole,  or  to  take 

1  Over  the  medhbah  where  the  preparation  is  made  sometimes  hangs 
a  paper  with  a  list  of  people  to  be  commemorated. 

2  It  is  said  that  the  most  ascetic  among  the  Russian  monks  takes  no 
other  food  in  Lent  but  this  anti-doron. 


136     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

home,  as  he  pleases.  This  practice  is  not  confined  to  the 
Saturdays  mentioned  above,  but  may  obtain  whenever  the 
dead  are  especially  commemorated. 

These  oblations  furnished  by  the  people  in  commemora- 
tion must  not  be  confused  with  the  large  loaves  brought 
to  the  church  on  the  saint's  day  of  some  worshipper,  who 
by  giving  notice  of  his  intention  "pre-empts  the  feast." 
For  example,  in  a  given  church  there  may  be  several  men 
by  the  name  of  Thomas,  but  only  one  can  celebrate  Saint 
Thomas's  day  in  this  way.  The  loaves,  which  are  some- 
times eighteen  inches  across,  are  stamped  in  the  centre 
with  a  seal  of  the  usual  form,  but  of  larger  size,  while  five 
smaller  stamps  appear  around  the  circumference.  They 
do  not  bear  the  name  oblation.  All  five  are  blessed  by  the 
priest  at  an  especial  service  in  the  nave,  but  no  portions  of 
them  are  consecrated.  One  loaf  may  be  taken  by  the  priest 
for  himself,  one  by  the  sexton,  another  may  be  broken  up 
for  distribution  after  the  service,  and  the  other  two  may 
be  returned  to  the  man  keeping  the  feast  to  take  home,  as 
a  blessing.  A  Beyrout  priest  tells  me  that  this  practice  is 
now  moribund. 

The  preparation  of  the  elements  in  the  Syrian  Church 
is  conducted  in  the  southern  part  of  the  sanctuary.  The 
elaborate  ceremony  above  described,  including  the  cutting 
out  and  sacrificing  of  the  seal  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
commemorative  portions  of  the  bread  around  it  on  the  paten, 
is  confined  to  the  Holy  Orthodox  Church  and  to  its  deriva- 
tive the  Greek  Catholic.  For  the  commemoration  of  the 
living  and  the  dead  in  the  Syrian  and  Maronite  liturgies, 
no  such  symbolism  is  used.  In  the  Jacobite  churches  in 
Mardin,  just  before  the  commemoration  the  priest  advances 
to  the  door  of  the  sanctuary  and  reads  from  a  list  those 
names  for  whose  mention  money  has  been  paid.  Similar 
lists  are  known  in  the  Syrian  Catholic  Churches  at  Hums. 
At  the  time  of  the  commemoration  the  priest  makes  the 
sign  of  the  cross  over  the  paper  and  over  the  paten.  In  the 
Syrian  churches,  however,  the  distribution  of  the  anti- 
doron  (Syriac:  burctho)  at  the  close  of  the  mass  occupies 
an  even  more  prominent  feature  than  it  does  in  the  Greek. 


THE  EASTERN  LITURGIES  137 

In  some  cases  the  number  of  cakes  that  a  man  receives  is 
in  direct  proportion  to  the  amount  of  flour  he  has  contrib- 
uted. Many  of  these  cakes  are  taken  home  by  the  bishop 
to  be  distributed  to  the  people  at  his  reception  after  the 
service.  On  Maundy  Thursday,  at  Mosul,  each  church- 
goer is  entitled  to  receive  two  of  these  cakes,  which  the  sex- 
ton has  brought  to  the  church  in  two  large  sacks.1 

The  scope  of  the  present  work  forbids  a  detailed  analysis 
of  the  liturgies  themselves.  A  few  words,  however,  may 
be  said  regarding  some  peculiar  features  connected  with  the 
kiss  of  peace  and  with  the  communion  itself.  Under  one 
form  or  another  the  kiss  of  peace  finds  a  place  in  all  ancient 
liturgies,  Eastern  and  Western,  but  in  the  Syrian  Church  it 
is  given  a  very  especial  prominence,  in  a  ceremony  which 
vividly  symbolizes  the  actual  kiss  exchanged  by  members 
of  the  early  church.  That  the  form  of  this  ceremony  varies 
in  different  churches  may  be  indicated  by  a  comparison, 
which  the  reader  may  make  for  himself,  between  the  account 
found  here  and  that  given  by  Parry  in  his  "  Six  Months  in 
a  Syrian  Monastery."  2  Though  retained  by  the  Syrian 
Catholics  as  a  body,  I  am  told  that  the  practice  has  fallen 
into  disuse  in  the  cathedral  church  in  Beyrout.  The  fol- 
lowing account  I  received  from  a  minor  "deacon."  After 
the  recital  of  the  creed,  the  serving  deacon  advances  to  the 
priest,  holding  up  the  chain  of  the  censer  for  him  to  kiss; 
this  deacon  then  kisses  the  priest's  hand  as  well  as  the  gospel, 
after  which  he  presents  the  chain  for  the  other  deacons  in 
the  sanctuary  to  kiss;  then,  advancing  to  the  door  of  the 
sanctuary,  he  holds  up  the  chain  in  view  of  the  congregation, 
while  the  chief  man  of  the  church  comes  forward,  kisses 
the  chain,  and  then  smooths  down  his  cheeks  and  the  sides 
of  his  body,  as  if  to  communicate  the  blessing  to  his  whole 
frame;  then,  turning  to  the  nearest  worshipper,  he  draws 
the  two  palms  of  the  hands  of  the  latter  between  his  own, 
thus  passing  on  the  peace  (salaam),  and  again  smooths  down 
his  own  cheeks  and  body;  in  a  similar  way  the  man  who 

1  The  anti-doron  should  be  blessed  by  the  priest  before  distribution, 
but  I  gather  that  this  is  not  always  done. 

2  Op.  tit.,  p.  340. 


138     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

has  just  received  the  peace  may  pass  it  on  to  a  number 
of  worshippers,  each  one  of  whom  may  do  the  same,  so  that 
in  a  short  time  the  whole  congregation  has  shared  in  the 
blessing.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  when  the  Moslem 
procession  bearing  the  sacred  flags  to  Neby  Musa,  or  the 
shrine  of  Moses,  passes  along  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  the 
by-standers  smooth  down  their  faces  and  bodies  in  a  similar 
manner.  It  may  be  added  here  that  at  different  points  of 
the  Syrian  mass  the  deacons  beat  cymbals  and  jingle  fans 
which  consist  of  long  staves,  having  a  round  plate  at  the 
top  encircled  with  bells.  In  the  Eastern  churches,  especially 
in  those  not  united  to  Rome,  the  people  cummunicate  in- 
frequently, usually  only  at  Easter  and  at  Christmas,  and 
perhaps  on  the  day  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  communicant. 
In  the  Jacobite  Churches  of  Mosul  the  Easter  communion 
is  made  preferably  on  Maundy  Thursday,  in  direct  com- 
memoration of  the  institution. 

The  Church  of  Rome,  followed  by  the  Maronite,  differs 
from  the  purely  Eastern  churches  in  allowing  the  laity  com- 
munion in  one  kind  only.1  In  the  Coptic  and  Abyssinian 
Churches  alone,  however,  do  the  people  partake  of  the 
wine  separately.  In  the  other  churches  there  is  consider- 
able variation  in  the  manner  of  combining  the  two  elements. 
We  have  seen  that  in  the  Greek  Church  the  priest  conse- 
crates only  the  seal  which  has  been  cut  out  from  the  oblation, 
together  with  the  commemorative  fragments  and  crumbs. 
During  the  Fraction  he  breaks  the  seal  into  four  parts,  ar- 
ranging them  in  the  form  of  a  cross  on  the  paten.  The  part 
marked  1C  he  puts  in  the  chalice,  after  which  he  adds  warm 
water  to  the  wine;  the  part  marked  XC  he  partakes  of  him- 
self, sharing  with  the  deacon  and  bishop,  if  they  be  present. 
Priest  and  deacon  then  partake  thrice  of  the  cup;  the  other 
two  parts,  marked  NI  and  KA,  together  with  the  commemo- 
rative fragments,  are  also  put  in  the  cup.  In  communicating 
the  people,  the  priest  mentions  each  person  by  name,  giv- 
ing each  with  a  spoon  a  minute  portion  of  the  fragment 

1  The  practice  which  grew  up  in  the  Roman  Church  of  withholding 
the  wine  from  the  laity  was  made  binding  only  in  1563  at  the  Council 
of  Trent. 


THE  EASTERN  LITURGIES  139 

marked  1C,  soaked  in  the  wine.  The  rest  of  the  sop  is 
consumed  at  the  close  of  the  service  by  the  deacon  or  priest. 
On  certain  week  days  in  Lent,  when  the  mass  of  the  pre- 
sanctified  is  said  without  consecration,  the  priest  does  not 
partake  of  the  cup.  At  the  consecration  of  the  bread 
which  has  taken  place  the  previous  Sunday,  the  priest  has 
crossed  the  bread  with  consecrated  wine  three  times,  so 
this  element  enters  into  the  communion,  but  in  a  dried 
form.  Wine  is  poured  into  the  chalice,  as  in  ordinary 
masses,  but  in  the  procession  around  the  church,  with  the 
paten  and  chalice  previous  to  their  being  placed  on  the 
high  altar,  the  priest  carries  the  chalice  in  his  left  hand, 
instead  of  in  his  right,  to  signify  that  it  contains  only  ordi- 
nary wine,  not  destined  to  be  transmuted  into  the  blood  of 
Christ.1  The  Armenian  practice  is  not  unlike  the  Greek, 
though  the  whole  oblation  or  cake  is  consecrated.  This 
the  priest  immerses  in  the  wine,  so  that  it  may  become  en- 
tirely permeated.  After  partaking  himself  of  the  soaked 
bread  and  then  of  the  wine,  he  holds  the  cake  down  into 
the  full  cup  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  he  breaks 
off  a  tiny  fragment,  dips  it  again  into  the  wine,  and  gives 
to  each  communicant.  In  the  Syrian  churches,  while  the 
priest  and  deacon  commune  in  both  kinds  separately,  the 
people  receive  hardly  more  than  a  symbol  of  the  wine,  as 
the  cake  is  merely  moistened,  here  and  there,  in  crossing 
lines,  made  by  a  bit  of  the  cake  which  the  priest  has  previ- 
ously broken  off  and  dipped  into  the  chalice.2  The  priest 
does  not  call  the  communicants  by  name.  The  Maronite 
Church  strictly  follows  the  Roman,  not  only  in  the  use  of 
the  unleavened  wafer,  but  in  communicating  the  laity  in 
one  kind  only.  I  am  informed  that  the  Abyssinian  Catho- 
lics also  observe  the  Roman  practice. 

1  This  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  a  parish  priest. 

2  At  the  Coptic  and  Abyssinian  communion  the  cake  is  similarly 
crossed  by  the  wine,  though  the  people  partake  also  of  the  cup. 


140     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 


II.    BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL 

There  is  no  fixed  rule,  applying  to  all  the  Eastern  churches, 
to  govern  the  position  of  the  baptismal  font.  In  the  Greek 
churches  this  is  sometimes  found  in  the  south-west  corner 
of  the  nave.  In  the  Greek  Catholic  Church  the  south 
end  of  the  sanctuary  may  be  used  as  a  baptistery.  In 
the  Jacobite  Churches  baptisms  may  be  celebrated  at  the 
north  end.  Among  the  Greeks,  baptisms  are  common  in  pri- 
vate houses,  but  this  practice  is  forbidden  by  the  Jacobites. 
While  the  baptismal  services  differ  in  detail  in  the  different 
Eastern  churches  under  consideration,  they  have  the  follow- 
ing salient  features  in  common:  the  exorcising  of  the  evil 
spirit;  the  blessing  of  the  water;  the  anointing  of  the  child 
with  oil;  the  clothing  of  the  child  in  white  garments.  In 
all  churches  but  the  Maronite  a  second  sacrament,  that  of 
confirmation  by  use  of  the  holy  chrism,  or  the  meirun,  im- 
mediately follows. 

In  the  service  books  of  the  Greek  Church  the  exorcising 
of  the  evil  spirit  is  a  part  of  a  ceremony  called  the  Making 
of  a  Catachumen1  immediately  preceding  the  actual  service 
of  baptism.  When  delivered  in  the  sonorous  Arabic,  with 
the  clear  enunciation  that  marked  the  utterance  of  a  priest 
who  conducted  a  private  baptism  in  my  hearing,  these 
prayers  are  most  impressive.  The  following  extract  from 
the  first  exorcism  follows  the  excellent  translation  of  Dr. 
Wortabet:2 

"  The  Lord  God  who  became  incarnate  and  dwelt  among 
men,  that  he  may  break  thy  violence  and  save  mankind, 
rebukes  thee,  O  Satan.  ...  I  conjure  thee  by  God  who 
manifested  the  tree  of  life  and  appointed  cherubims  with  a 
flaming  sword  to  keep  and  preserve  it.  I  conjure  thee  by 
him  who  walked  upon  the  sea  as  upon  dry  land,  who  re- 

1  Thus  it  is  named  in  the  "  Book  of  Needs  of  the  Holy  Orthodox 
Church,"  done  into  English  by  G.  V.  Shann  (London,  1894).    The 
Arabic  service  book  containing  the  rites  of  baptism,  marriage,  burial, 
etc.,  is  called  "Agiasmatari-el-Kebir"  (Beyrout,  1884). 

2  "Religion  in  the  East,"  op.  tit.,  p.  23. 


BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL        141 

buked  the  storm,  whose  looks  dry  up  the  deeps  and  at 
whose  threats  the  mountains  melt.  He  now  commands 
thee  by  us  to  fear  and  come  out  and  depart  from  this  creat- 
ure; and  neither  to  return  to  him  nor  to  be  concealed  in  him, 
nor  to  meet  him  with  any  evil  act  by  day  or  by  night,  at  the 
middle  of  the  day,  or  any  other  hour;  but  do  thou  go  to 
Tartarus  appointed  for  thee,  until  the  great  day  of  judg- 
ment. .  .  .  Come  out  and  depart  from  him  who  has  been 
sealed  and  elected  to  be  a  new  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
God.  I  conjure  thee  by  him  who  walked  on  the  wings  of 
the  wind  and  who  makes  his  angels  a  flame  of  fire.  Come 
out  and  depart  from  this  creature,  thou  and  all  thy  powers 
and  angels!" 

After  the  three  exorcisms  the  priest  breathes  on  the 
child's  body  "in  the  manner  of  a  cross,"  saying:  "Dispel 
from  him  every  evil  and  polluted  spirit  which  may  lurk  in 
his  heart — the  spirit  of  error,  and  evil,  and  idolatry,  and  in- 
temperance, and  excess,  the  spirit  of  lying  and  of  all  abom- 
ination produced  by  the  suggestion  of  the  devil.  Grant 
him  to  be  a  rational  lamb  in  the  holy  flock  of  Christ,  an 
honorable  member  of  thy  church  .  .  .  and  thus  attain  the 
joy  of  thy  saints  in  the  kingdom." 

With  the  Maronites  the  exorcisms  are  also  three,  two 
being  uttered  at  the  door  of  the  church,  where  the  priest 
receives  the  child.  Besides  breathing  "crosswise"  on  the 
child's  face,  the  priest  blesses  some  salt  which  he  puts  in 
the  child's  mouth,  saying:  "Receive,  O  child,  this  salt  of 
wisdom  that  it  may  benefit  thee  to  everlasting  life."  In 
the  second  exorcism  are  found  the  words:  "I  adjure  thee, 
thou  evil  and  accursed  spirit,  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  thou  depart  from 
this  thy  servant  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  Christ,  by  which 
he  walked  on  the  waves  of  the  sea  as  if  it  were  dry  land,  and 
in  the  strength  by  which  he  put  forth  his  hand  and  saved 
Peter  when  he  was  about  to  sink."  After  the  third  exor- 
cism, which  takes  place  within  the  church  itself  (following 
the  recital  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  of  the  Nicene  Creed), 
the  priest,  placing  his  hand  on  the  nose  of  the  child,  says: 

1  This  practice  appears  to  be  borrowed  from  the  Latin  church. 


142     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

"  Open,  O  nostrils,  and  breathe  in  the  sweet  odors  of  God, 
and  flee  thou  accursed  one  baffled  because  the  judgment 
of  God  is  upon  thee. "  *  I  have  not  examined  the  Jacobite 
service,  but  I  am  told  that  the  exorcisms  are  brief,  being 
uttered  "secretly"  by  the  priest. 

In  the  Greek  Church  the  service  for  making  catachu- 
mens  concludes  with  an  elaborate  catechism  or  dialogue 
between  the  priest  and  the  child  represented  by  his  or  her 
godparent.  The  questions  are  pressed  with  solemn  itera- 
tion. Turning  the  candidate  to  face  the  west,  the  priest 
first  asks  three  times:  "Dost  thou  renounce  the  devil  and 
all  his  works,  etc?"  and  then  again  three  times,  as  if  to 
place  the  matter  beyond  any  possible  doubt:  "Hast  thou 
renounced  the  devil?"  After  the  last  answer  the  priest 
exclaims:  "Spit  on  the  devil!"  which  command  is  supposed 
to  be  obeyed  by  the  godparent  at  once.  In  the  same  way, 
after  the  godparent  with  the  child  in  the  arms  has  been 
turned  to  face  the  east,  come  the  questions,  each  put  three 
times:  "Dost  thou  make  a  covenant  with  Christ?"  and 
"  Hast  thou  made  a  covenant  with  Christ  ?  "  After  the  re- 
cital of  the  creed,  which  is  to  be  repeated  three  times,  the 
last  question  is  asked  once  more,  after  which  follows  a  short 
prayer  that  the  child  may  be  made  worthy  of  baptism. 

In  the  Maronite  service  the  catechising  of  the  child  as 
to  its  belief  (through  the  godparent)  takes  place  after  the 
anointing.  Thus  in  both  the  Byzantine  and  Maronite  ser- 
vices two  identical  ideas  are  emphasized  before  the  act  of 
baptism :  the  expulsion  of  the  evil  spirit  and  the  acceptance 
of  the  faith.  In  the  private  Greek  baptism  which  I  wit- 
nessed the  child  was  taken  off  to  be  undressed  after  the 
catechising. 

The  Greek  baptismal  service  proper  begins  with  several 
prayers  followed  by  the  consecration  of  the  water.  In  the 
prayer  of  consecration  occur  the  following  petitions :  "  Make 
it  a  fountain  of  immortality,  granting  sanctity,  forgiving 

1  See  the  book  containing  the  rites  of  baptism,  betrothal,  marriage, 
extreme  unction,  etc.,  printed  at  Rome  in  1840,  in  "Karshuni,"  with 
the  Latin  title:  "Ritus  administrandi  nonnulla  sacram.,  ad  usum  eccl. 
Antiochena  Maronitarum." 


BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL         143 

sins,  dispelling  desires,  destroying  devils,  unapproachable 
to  satanic  powers,  full  of  angelic  power.  .  .  .  We  pray  that 
no  evil  spirit  may  descend  with  the  baptized  into  it.  ... 
And  do  thou,  O  Lord,  who  has  bestowed  on  us  from  above 
regeneration  by  water  and  by  the  spirit,  come  upon  this 
water,  and  grant  the  candidate  for  baptism  to  be  changed 
by  his  putting  off  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt  accord- 
ing to  the  deceitful  lusts,  and  by  putting  on  the  new  man, 
which  is  created  anew  after  the  image  of  his  Creator,  etc."  * 
Later  a  large  cross  is  made  on  the  water  by  dropping  in 
the  consecrated  oil. 

In  the  Maronite  service  the  priest  lets  fall  three  drops  of 
tallow  from  a  lighted  candle  into  the  water,  saying:  "  In  this 
water  man  is  regenerated  by  a  new  birth,  and  becomes  the 
first-born  of  Heaven.  .  .  .  Drive  out,  O  Lord,  every  evil 
spirit  and  every  satanic  wile  from  this  water,  that  nothing 
opposed  to  the  mystery  of  baptism  may  have  influence  in 
it,  now  or  forever."  The  priest  also  breathes  on  the  water, 
plunges  into  it  a  lighted  candle,  and  puts  in  it  some  of  the 
oil  of  baptism  as  well  as  some  of  the  meirun,  or  holy  chrism, 
a  practice  held  in  common  with  the  Jacobites. 

In  the  consecration  of  the  holy  oil  among  the  Greeks 
the  priest  breathes  upon  it  praying  that  it  may  become 
"an  unction  of  immortality,  a  weapon  of  righteousness,  a 
regeneration  of  soul  and  body."  The  priest  then  anoints 
the  child  in  the  form  of  a  cross  on  forehead,  breast,  back, 
ears,  feet,  and  hands,  with  appropriate  sentences,  as,  for 
example,  in  anointing  the  ears  "for  the  hearing  of  faith"; 
in  anointing  the  feet  "that  he  may  walk  in  thy  paths."  It 
is  interesting  to  note  here  that  the  Moslems  in  their  required 
ablutions  before  prayer  may  use  similar  petitions  appropriate 
to  the  washing  of  the  various  members.  Thus,  in  washing 
the  ears  they  say:  "Make  me,  O  God,  to  be  of  those  who 
hear  thy  word  and  perform  it!"  The  Maronites  anoint 
the  breast  and  shoulders  of  the  child.  According  to  Parry, 
the  Jacobite  practice  is  to  anoint  the  whole  body. 

Triple  immersion  is  obligatory  with  the  Greeks,  who 
recognize  the  validity  of  no  other  form;  is  sometimes  prac- 
1  Translation  of  Dr.  Wortabet,  op,  cit,,  p.  27. 


144     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

tised  by  the  Jacobites;  and  is  not  forbidden  to  the  Maron- 
ites,  who  once  uniformly  practiced  it.  With  the  Greeks 
the  infant  is  passed  three  times  rapidly  through  the  water, 
first  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  then  in  the  name  of  the  Son, 
and  lastly  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  When  I  saw  the 
rite  performed,  the  priest  first  straightened  the  arms  of  the 
infant,  clutched  it  firmly  with  one  hand,  and  kept  the  mouth 
and  nostrils  closed  with  the  fingers  of  the  other,  so  as  to 
prevent  choking  during  the  process  of  immersion.  With 
the  Maronites,  the  baptism  is  performed  by  pouring  a  hand- 
ful of  water  on  the  child's  head  three  times,  once  for  each 
person  of  the  Trinity.  In  the  Jacobite  Church  immersion 
may  be  complete,  as  with  the  Greeks,  or  partial,  by  dipping 
the  child  up  to  its  neck  three  times  in  the  font  (so  Parry). 
In  some  cases  the  child  is  held  erect  in  the  font,  with  the 
water  up  to  its  neck,  while  the  priest  pours  three  handfuls 
of  water  on  its  head. 

After  a  Greek  baptism  the  priest  dries  the  child  with  a 
towel  and  clothes  it  in  a  white  robe,  cap,  and  girdle,  offering 
an  appropriate  prayer.  He  then  proceeds  with  the  second 
sacrament  of  confirmation,  anointing  the  child  on  the  fore- 
head, eyes,  nose,  mouth,  ears,  breast,  hands,  and  feet  with 
the  holy  chrism,  or  meirun,  consecrated  by  a  patriarch1  and 
twelve  bishops.  Though  performed  by  a  priest,  confirma- 
tion, with  the  Greeks,  as  truly  as  with  the  Latins,  is  a  purely 
episcopal  function,  the  priest  acting  merely  as  representa- 
tive of  the  bishop.  The  meirun,  so  a  learned  Greek  prel- 
ate explained  to  me,  symbolizes  the  episcopal  laying  on 
of  hands.  In  the  Jacobite  Church  the  rite  of  the  chrism 
may  precede  the  dressing  of  the  child,  in  cases  where  the 
chrismatic  oil  is  smeared  over  the  whole  body,  a  practice 
common  but  not  universal.2  Sometimes  the  little  baptismal 
suit  of  clothes  is  owned  by  the  church.  This  must  be  re- 
turned after  the  "ghusl,"  performed  by  the  priest  the  same 

1  See  p.  162. 

2  In  Mosul  the  priest  touches  the  different  parts  of  the  child's  body 
with  his  thumb,  which  has  been  smeared  with  the  meirun,  then  pours 
the  rest  in  the  palm  of  his  own  hand,  with  which  he  scours  the.  child's 
head. 


BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL         145 

day  or  the  day  after,  when  the  meirun  is  washed  off.  With 
the  Greeks  this  washing  is  appointed  to  be  done  in  church 
by  the  priest  seven  days  after  the  baptism,  an  observance 
made  much  of  by  the  Hellenic  Greeks.  In  Syria,  however, 
the  meirun  is  usually  washed  off  at  once  by  the  godmother 
quite  informally,  unless  the  priest  happens  to  be  present, 
in  which  case  he  may  say  one  of  the  appointed  prayers. 
Both  the  water  of  baptism  and  the  water  of  the  washing 
should  be  poured  off  in  some  clean  place,  to  escape  pol- 
lution. 

With  the  Maronites  the  priest  washes  the  child  before 
clothing  it  in  a  white  veil,  and  immediately  after  anointing 
its  forehead  with  the  meiriln,  the  latter  ceremony  being  a 
curious  instance  of  a  symbol  surviving  the  thing  symbolized, 
and  recalling  the  old  times  when  the  Maronite  infants  like 
all  other  Syrians  were  confirmed  immediately  after  baptism. 
Confirmation  is  now  administered,  according  to  the  Roman 
custom,  to  children  of  seven  years  old  and  upward,  during 
an  episcopal  visitation. 

In  the  Greek  and  Syrian  Churches,  the  child,  having 
been  confirmed  in  full  membership  by  use  of  the  chrism, 
may  now  be  communicated.  According  to  the  Greek  usage, 
the  priest  places,  with  a  spoon,  on  the  tongue  of  the  infant 
a  minute  bit  of  the  sop,  brought  in  a  small  vial.  With  the 
Jacobites,  the  wafer  is  passed  over  the  lips  of  the  child 
and  then  given  to  the  godparent  to  eat.  The  formal  ser- 
vices always  terminate  with  a  procession  around  the  church, 
or  room,  where  the  baptism  has  been  performed.  The 
priest  then  takes  down,  for  registration  at  the  patriarchate, 
the  baptismal  name,  which  is  that  of  the  patron  saint  and 
may  be  quite  different  from  the  name  by  which  the  child  is 
actually  to  be  called. 

Before  celebrating  a  marriage  between  two  people  in 
any  one  of  the  Eastern  churches,  the  priest  must  ascertain 
the  exact  degree  of  relationship  which  may  exist  between 
them.  This  is  especially  important  in  view  of  two  facts: 
not  only  is  it  the  custom  for  a  youth  to  seek  a  bride  among 
his  relations,  but  the  fee  for  the  episcopal  or  patriarchal 


146     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

license  to  marry  within  the  prohibited  degrees  varies  with 
the  nearness  of  the  relationship.  In  computing  the  de- 
gree of  relationship  the  Eastern  church  counts  all  persons 
up  to  the  common  ancestors.  For  example,  first  cousins 
are  said  to  be  related  in  the  fourth  degree;  an  uncle  and 
his  niece  in  the  third  degree;  children  of  first  cousins  in 
the  sixth  degree.  The  Greek  Church  prohibits  marriage 
(without  especial  license)  in  the  sixth  degree.  In  no  case 
may  first  cousins  marry.  According  to  the  acts  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Lebanon  the  Maronites  are  forbidden  to  marry 
within  the  eighth  degree,  Eastern  computation,  fourth  de- 
gree, Latin  computation.  Licenses,  however,  cover  the  mar- 
riage of  first  cousins.1 

In  Syria  and  Palestine  the  usual  time  for  solemnizing 
weddings  is  Sunday.  At  the  village  of  Mahardy,  in  north- 
ern Syria,  where  the  population  is  Greek  Orthodox,  there 
is  but  one  wedding  day  in  the  year,  usually  a  Sunday  in 
October.  The  priest  goes  from  house  to  house,  reading 
the  marriage  service  over  each  couple  in  an  abbreviated 
form.  The  festivities,  however,  are  celebrated  in  common 
during  four  or  five  days  when  the  whole  village  thinks  of 
nothing  else. 

In  the  ritual  of  the  Greek  Church  the  offices  of  betrothal 
and  coronation  (the  marriage  proper)  constitute  two  sep- 
arate services.  For  a  second  marriage  the  two  are  com- 
bined in  the  abbreviated  office  called  simply  a  marriage 
service.  In  former  years  in  Syria  the  betrothal  service  was 
used  at  the  time  of  the  actual  engagement  to  marry,  which 
might  precede  the  wedding  by  an  indefinite  period.  The 
sanctity  of  the  service,  however,  was  threatened  by  the 
scandal  of  broken  engagements,  hence  some  twenty  years 
ago,  so  I  am  told,  the  formal  betrothal  service  was  post- 
poned to  the  time  of  the  wedding,  and  a  shorter  service  was 
authorized  for  the  time  of  contract,  it  being  stipulated  that 
the  party  breaking  the  engagement  should  pay  a  certain  sum. 

1  Divorce  is  permitted  by  the  Greek  Church  but  not  by  the  Uniate 
Bodies.  A  Greek  lawyer  informed  me  that  a  man  may  divorce  his 
wife  for  adultery  and  for  conspiring  to  kill  him.  A  woman  may  di- 
vorce her  husband  on  the  latter  but  not  on  the  former  ground. 


BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL         147 

For  the  betrothal  the  Eastern  churches  use  rings.  The 
Greek  rubric  prescribes  a  gold  ring  for  the  man  and  a  silver 
ring  for  the  woman,  but  as  far  as  I  am  aware  the  distinction 
is  no  longer  made  in  Syria,  both  rings  being  of  gold.  Ac- 
cording to  the  rubric,  before  putting  on  the  rings  the  priest 
first  pronounces  the  engagement  formula  three  times  over 
the  man:  "The  servant  of  God,  M,  is  betrothed  to  the 
handmaid  of  God,  N,  in  the  name,  etc.,"  signing  him  each 
time  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  touching  his  forehead  with  his 
ring.  He  then  pronounces  the  same  formula  over  the 
woman  (names  being  inverted),  signing  her  forehead  with 
her  ring.  Finally,  he  signs  the  forehead  of  each  with  two 
rings  held  together.  This  practice  is  sometimes  elaborated 
in  Syria  as  follows:  At  each  repetition  of  the  formula  over 
the  man  the  priest  touches  his  forehead  with  his  ring,  then 
the  woman's  forehead  with  the  same,  then,  as  he  adds  "  In 
the  name  of,  etc.,"  he  makes  the  sign  of  the  cross  by  touch- 
ing with  the  ring  the  groom's  forehead,  breast,  right  shoul- 
der, and  left  shoulder.  The  same  process,  mutatis  mutandis, 
is  repeated  with  the  woman's  ring.  The  betrothal  ends 
with  a  long  prayer. 

In  the  Eastern  churches  the  marriage  office  is  called  the 
coronation,  from  the  "crowns"  used  during  the  ceremony. 
Indeed,  a  Syrian,  in  announcing  his  marriage,  will  say:  "I 
have  been  crowned  for  such  a  girl."  The  following  is  the 
order  in  the  Greek  Church,  as  found  in  Syria  and  Palestine : 
Lighted  candles  being  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  bridal 
pair,  the  priest  reads  the  128th  Psalm,  with  responses  to  be 
chanted  by  the  singers.  After  this  follows  a  species  of 
litany  not  found  in  the  Russian  service,  which  substitutes 
questions  to  bride  and  groom  regarding  their  intentions  to 
marry  and  their  freedom  from  other  matrimonial  engage- 
ments. The  three  prayers  that  follow  are  practically  the 
same  in  both  the  Syrian  and  Russian  services.  The  first 
two  prayers  are  long,  and  teem  with  Scriptural  references  to 
the  married  state.  Among  many  other  things,  supplication 
is  made  that  the  pair  may  enjoy  the  blessings  that  were 
granted  to  Abraham  and  Sarah,  to  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  to 
Jacob  and  Rachel,  to  Joseph  and  Asenath,  to  Moses  and 


148     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Zipporah,  to  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth;1  that  they  may  re- 
ceive the  protection  extended  to  Noah  in  the  ark,  to  Jonah 
in  the  belly  of  the  whale,  to  the  three  children  in  the  fire; 
and  that  they  may  have  a  chaste  life;  love  for  one  another 
in  the  bond  of  peace;  grace  upon  their  children  and  grand- 
children; houses  full  of  corn  and  wine;  all  earthly  blessings, 
and  an  unfading  crown  of  glory. 

The  last  prayer,  in  part,  is  as  follows:  "O  Thou  Holy 
God  who  formed  man  from  dust,  and  fashioned  the  woman 
from  his  side,  and  joined  her  to  him  for  a  helpmate,  for  thus 
it  pleased  thy  Majesty  that  man  should  not  be  alone  upon 
the  earth;  do  Thou  now,  O  Lord,  stretch  forth  thy  hand 
from  thy  holy  habitation  and  unite  thy  servant  M  to  thy 
handmaid  N,  for  from  thee  proceeds  the  union  of  man  and 
woman,  etc."  At  the  mention  of  the  names  in  the  fore- 
going prayer,  the  priest  hooks  together  the  little  fingers  of 
their  right  hands,  which  so  remain  during  the  rest  of  the 
service. 

The  priest  then  takes  a  wreath  of  flowers,  called  the 
"crown,"  and  touches  the  man's  head,  saying  the  words: 
"  The  servant  of  God,  M,  is  crowned  for  the  servant  of  God, 
N,  in  the  name,  etc."  Then  touching  the  woman's  head 
with  the  same  crown,  he  says  the  words  a  second  time-, 
finally,  the  crown  is  placed  on  the  man's  head  while  the 
formula  is  said  for  the  third  time.2  Then  follows  the  crown- 
ing of  the  woman  "  for  the  man  "  in  a  precisely  similar  way. 
Then  the  priest,  stretching  out  his  crossed  arms  toward 
the  heads  of  the  pair,  announces  the  blessing  of  the  crowns 
three  times:  "May  the  Lord  our  God  crown  them  with 
glory  and  honor."  Here  follows  the  Epistle  (Eph.  5  :  20) 
and  the  Gospel  (Saint  John  2:1).  After  more  prayers 

1  In  the  Moslem  marriage  ceremony  the  qadhi  (judge)  prays  for  such 
mutual  love  upon  the  pair  as  existed  between  Adam  and  Eve,  Abraham 
and  Sarah,  Moses  and  Zipporah,  Mohammed  and  Ayesha,  etc.  See  p.  288. 

2  The  rubric  requires  that  the  formula  should  be  said  three  times 
over  each  one,  but  the  touching  of  the  woman's  head  with  the  man's 
crown,  and  vice-versa,  is  merely  popular  practice. 

"During  che  first  blessing  the  right  arm  is  crossed  over  the  left; 
during  the  second,  the  left  over  the  right,  and  finally,  during  the  last, 
the  right  over  the  left  again. 


BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL         149 

and  some  chanting,  the  congregation  repeats  the  Lord's 
Prayer. 

The  priest  then  takes  a  cup  of  wine  and  blesses  it  with 
the  following  prayer:  "O  God,  who  created  all  things  by 
thy  power,  and  confirmed  the  inhabited  earth  by  thy  might, 
and  adorned  the  crown  of  all  things  created  by  thyself, 
bless  with  a  spiritual  blessing  this  cup  of  communion,  etc." 
This  is  not  the  sacramental  wine,  but  the  name  cup  of 
communion  ("common  cup"  or  "shared  cup")  indicates 
that  it  symbolizes  the  spiritual  union  of  man  and  woman. 
Of  this  wine  both  partake  three  times.  Then  the  priest 
leads  the  married  pair  around  in  a  circle,  while  the  grooms- 
man holds  on  their  crowns  from  behind.  Then,  as  he  takes 
off  their  crowns,  the  priest  says,  first  to  the  man:  "May 
God  magnify  thee,  O  bridegroom,  as  Jacob,  and  may  He 
bless  thee  as  Isaac,  and  may  He  give  thee  increase  like 
Jacob.  Live  thou  in  peace,  and  follow  in  righteousness 
the  commandments  of  God."  And  then  to  the  woman: 
"And  thou,  O  bride,  may  God  magnify  thee  as  Sarah,  and 
may  He  make  thee  joyful  as  Rebecca,  and  give  thee  increase 
like  Rachel.  Be  glad  with  thy  husband,  and  keep  the  law 
of  chastity  without  sin,  for  this  is  well-pleasing  to  God." 
Eight  days  after  the  marriage  the  priest  is  supposed  to  take 
off  the  crowns  with  the  prayer  given  in  the  manual,  but 
this  practice  has  now  lapsed  in  Syria. 

In  the  Maronite  Church  the  betrothal  with  rings  and  the 
"  coronation,"  or  marriage  ceremony,  are  united  in  a  single 
service.  A  formal  engagement  used  to  be  read  at  the  time  of 
contract,  but  this  has  now  lapsed  in  the  usage.  The  mar- 
riage service  begins  with  the  blessing  of  the  rings  by  the 
priest.  In  presenting  these  he  says  to  each  in  turn:  "May 
the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  be  given  unto  thee  with  grace." 
Then  follows  the  blessing  of  the  "crowns,"  which  may  be 
either  wreaths  or  rosaries.  At  a  Lebanon  church  wedding 
which  I  attended,  the  wreaths  were  made  of  natural  flowers : 
roses  and  carnations,  with  green  leaves.  After  the  Epistle 
(Eph.  5  :  22-23)  and  the  Gospel  (Matt.  19  :  3-6)  follows 
a  prayer  in  which  the  Lord  is  besought  to  bless  the  crowns 
to  the  pair  with  the  blessing  vouchsafed  to  Abraham  and 


150     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Sarah,  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  Jacob  and  Rachel.  The  pair 
are  then  crowned  with  the  prayer  that  they  may  receive 
the  crown  of  righteousness.  The  Greek  custom  of  touch- 
ing the  bride's  forehead  with  the  groom's  crown,  and  vice- 
versa,  is  not  observed.  A  crown  is  also  put  on  the  head  of 
the  groomsman,  or,  if  he  be  married,  in  his  hand.  The 
bridesmaid  is  also  crowned.  In  the  subsequent  exhortation 
to  the  bridal  prayer,  the  groom  is  urged  to  love  his  wife; 
not  to  insult  her;  not  to  strike  her  nor  to  curse  her  relations. 
The  bride  is  urged  not  to  disobey  her  husband  unless  he 
command  her  to  sin;  not  to  tell  his  secrets;  not  to  come 
between  him  and  his  relations;  not  to  answer  him  with 
bitter  words.  The  priest  then  joins  their  right  hands  and 
pronounces  the  marriage  formula  in  the  name  of  the 
Trinity.  After  various  prayers  and  responses  the  priest 
looses  the  hands  of  the  pair  and  takes  off  the  crowns,  say- 
ing: "Thou  who  didst  wear  the  crown  of  thorns  to  take 
from  us  the  thorns  of  sin,  remove  from  this  pair  these  per- 
ishable crowns,  and  place  upon  them  the  crown  that  never 
perishes."  The  ceremony  closes  with  another  exhortation 
and  a  prayer. 

At  the  Lebanon  wedding  at  which  I  was  present  there 
followed  a  "procession,"  in  which  the  bride  did  not  join. 
A  small  space  was  cleared  around  which  the  priest  circled, 
walking  backward,  thus  facing  the  groom,  who  carried  a 
veiled  crucifix,  followed  by  the  singers,  each  carrying  the 
half  of  a  pair  of  cymbals  which  he  clanged  with  a  book. 
Behind  these  were  boys  with  candles.  The  chanting  was 
to  a  weird  native  tune.  Indeed,  all  through  the  service 
even  the  amens  were  rendered  in  a  sort  of  cadenza  style, 
full  of  roulades  and  shakes  and  quirks.  At  the  end  the 
groom  kissed  the  crucifix  and  then  the  priest's  hand. 

With  the  Syrians  (Jacobites  and  Syrian  Catholics)  the 
"crowns"  are  not  wreaths,  but  fillets  or  embroidered  hand- 
kerchiefs. Taking  a  fillet  in  his  hand,  the  priest  holds  it 
over  the  head  of  the  groom,  shaking  it  well,  to  symbolize 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  uttering  these  words: 
"From  Heaven  has  come  this  crown  in  the  hands  of  our 
Saviour;  and  the  priest  will  place  it  on  the  head  of  him  who 


BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL         151 

deserves  it."  He  then  shakes  the  same  fillet  over  the  head 
of  the  bride,  and  once  again  over  the  head  of  the  groom. 
A  similar  process  is  gone  through  with  the  bride's  fillet.1 
The  fillets  are  then  tied  around  the  necks  of  the  pair,  the 
ends  being  tucked  under  their  clothes.  In  some  places  for 
the  fillets  are  substituted  embroidered  handkerchiefs,  which, 
after  the  shaking,  are  tied  respectively  to  the  tarboosh  (fez) 
of  the  man  and  the  head-gear  of  the  woman.  The  grooms- 
man has  a  handkerchief  similar  to  the  groom's.  Moreover, 
around  the  necks  of  each  of  the  three  is  bound  a  scarf, 
which  is  then  crossed  down  over  the  back.  These  fillets  or 
handkerchiefs  should  not  be  unloosed  till  the  priest  takes 
them  off,  with  an  especial  prayer,  sometimes  within  a  day 
or  two.  In  some  places  the  handkerchiefs  are  then  sent, 
for  good  luck,  to  unmarried  friends.  In  neither  the  Mar- 
onite  nor  the  Syrian  service  do  the  pair  drink  wine  as  with 
the  Greeks. 

With  the  Maronites  the  rite  of  extreme  unction  is  ad- 
ministered when  the  person  is  supposed  to  be  at  the  point 
of  death.  The  service  is  in  Arabic.  The  priest  anoints 
the  eyes  with  the  sacred  oil,  praying  that  the  sins  of  sight 
may  be  forgiven,  and  then  anoints  the  ears,  nostrils,  mouth, 
hands,  and  feet.  Reference  is  made  in  the  final  prayer  to 
the  commands  of  the  Apostle  James,  to  pray  over  the  sick, 
anointing  them  with  oil,  and  petition  is  made  that  the  sick 
man  may  be  restored  to  health.  The  Greeks  emphasize,  in 
the  administration  of  the  sacrament  of  unction,  the  feat- 
ure indicated  in  the  last  phrase.  The  rite  may  be  em- 
ployed during  any  period  of  an  illness,  not  being  supposed 
to  have  any  peculiar  efficacy  at  the  moment  of  death. 
Thus  the  idea  of  "extreme  unction"  is  lacking.  Confes- 
sion and  communion,  however,  are  supposed  to  be  admin- 
istered while  the  dying  man  is  still  conscious,  though  non- 
observance  in  case  of  a  sudden  death  is  not  regarded  as 
a  calamity.  "It  was  God's  will,"  they  say.  The  oil  of 
unction  is  consecrated  in  a  long  and  elaborate  rite  by  seven 
priests  twice  a  year.  Sick  people  may  be  brought  to  the 

1  With  the  Jacobites  a  fillet  is  also  shaken  over  an  infant  at  baptism. 


152     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

church  at  the  time  of  this  service,  to  be  formally  anointed 
by  each  priest  separately.  People,  however,  whenever  they 
are  sick,  may  anoint  themselves  with  no  formal  rite,  if  they 
have  by  them  at  home  a  bit  of  cotton  which  has  been  soaked 
in  the  oil.  Should  the  cotton  become  dry,  the  efficacy  is 
not  lost. 

In  the  Greek  Church  the  funeral  service  for  laymen  is 
very  long,  but  about  one-third  of  it  may  be  omitted  if  the 
late  hour  of  the  day  or  other  cause  for  haste  should  demand 
this.1  As  Easter  week  is  a  season  of  peculiar  joy,  the  ru- 
bric directs  that  an  abbreviated  service  should  be  used  at 
this  time  always.  The  office  for  the  burial  of  priests  is 
almost  twice  as  long  as  that  for  laymen;  for  example,  five 
extracts  are  read  from  both  Gospels  and  Epistles.  There 
is  also  an  especial  service  for  monks  as  well  as  for  in- 
fants.2 

The  service  for  laymen  begins  at  the  house,  where  the 
priest  incenses  the  body,  which  has  previously  been  washed, 
but  with  no  especial  prayer.  As  the  procession  is  on  the 
way  to  the  church  the  priest  intones  chants.  In  the  church 
itself,  after  various  prayers  and  psalms,  and  a  sort  of  litany 
with  responses,  there  follows  a  series  of  eight  odes,  each 
ending  with  an  apostrophe  to  the  Virgin.  After  this  series 
comes  the  Idiomela  of  John  of  Damascus,  in  eight  parts, 
each  part  chanted  to  a  different  tone:  quaint  meditations 
on  death,  full  of  an  old-world  flavor.  Then  come  the  beati- 
tudes, interspersed  with  more  reflections,  Epistle  (Thess. 
4  :  13-17)  and  Gospel  (John  5  :  24-30).  Here  follows  the 
chanted  invitation  to  friends  to  advance  and  give  the  last 
kiss  to  the  dead.  Parts  of  this  I  give  in  free  translation: 
"Come,  O  brothers,  let  us  give  the  last  kiss  to  the  dead, 
thanking  and  praising  God.  For  he  has  left  his  kinsfolk 

1  With  all  sects  in  the  East  burial  takes  place  if  possible  on  the  day 
of  the  death. 

2  This  service  may  be  used  for  children  up  to  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve, 
except  where  the  bishop  insists  on  an  earlier  date  for  its  discontinu- 
ance.    The  service  assumes  that  the  infant  dies  without  sin.     The 
Jacobite  Church  makes  the  same  assumption  and  has  an  especial  ser- 
vice.   This  church  has  separate  burial  offices  for  men  and  women,  but 
they  differ  only  in  the  Scripture  lesson. 


BAPTISM,  MARRIAGE,  AND  BURIAL         153 

and  relations,  and  now  goes  to  the  grave  in  haste.  No 
more  has  he  concern  for  the  vanities  of  the  flesh  and  its 
heavy  toil.  Where  now  are  we  his  kinsfolk  and  his  friends  ? 
For  we  are  parted  from  him:  therefore  let  us  beseech  the 
Lord  to  give  him  rest."  This  chant  wanders  on  and  on,  in 
a  leisurely  strain  of  gentle  melancholy,  dwelling  on  the  fu- 
tility of  this  present  life  and  on  the  barrenness  and  silence 
of  the  grave  rather  than  on  the  joys  of  heaven,  though 
these  are  touched  upon.  It  closes  with  these  words,  put 
in  the  mouth  of  the  dead  man  himself:  "O  brothers  and 
friends  and  acquaintances  and  relatives,  if  ye  take  note  of 
me  lying  here  voiceless  and  deprived  of  breath,  weep  over 
me,  all  of  you!  For  but  yesterday  I  was  speaking  to  you, 
and  now  suddenly  the  hour  of  dread  death  has  come  upon 
me.  But  approach  all  ye  that  love  me,  and  kiss  me  with 
the  last  kiss,  for  never  shall  I  walk  with  you  again,  nor  hold 
converse  with  you.  I  depart  now  unto  the  Judge  who 
knows  no  partiality  and  no  respect  of  persons;  for  the  slave 
and  the  master,  the  king  and  the  warrior,  the  rich  and  the 
poor  shall  stand  together  in  the  same  degree.  Therefore, 
I  beg  that  you  pray  Christ  God  for  me  unceasingly,  that  I 
be  not  appointed  to  the  place  of  torment  for  my  sins,  but 
that  He  appoint  my  lot  where  is  the  light  of  life." 

In  the  service  for  a  child  the  invitation  to  give  the  last 
kiss  is  even  still  more  touching:  "  Who  would  not  weep,  my 
child,  at  thy  sad  removal  from  this  world?  .  .  .  For,  like 
a  bird,  thou  hast  quickly  flown  before  thy  time,  and  to  the 
Maker  of  all  things  hast  taken  thy  course.  O  my  child, 
who  would  not  weep  and  lament  to  behold  now  faded  the 
beauty  of  thy  face,  that  once  was  like  a  rose  for  comeli- 
ness? .  .  .  Come,  O  my  friends  and  relatives  and  neigh- 
bors, that  together  we  may  kiss  this  child  as  we  commit 
him  to  the  grave." 

The  coffin  being  opened,  opportunity  is  then  given  to 
the  friends  to  kiss  the  dead.  After  more  prayers  the  priest 
repeats  three  times  in  a  loud  voice  these  words:  "Eternal 
is  thy  memory,  O  our  brother;  worthy  of  blessing  and  of 
lasting  remembrance!"  The  absolution,  pronounced  over 
the  corpse  in  the  Russian  service,  is  not  found  in  the  Arabic 


154     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

manual.  The  body  is  then  carried  to  the  grave  where  it 
is  sprinkled  with  dust  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  and  on  it 
is  poured  the  oil  from  the  lamp,  or  else  ashes  are  scat- 
tered from  the  censer.1  The  priest  closes  the  service  with 
the  following  words:  "Glory  be  to  God  who  thus  has 
wrought!" 

All  the  burial  services  in  the  Maronite  Church  are  in 
Syriac.  The  especial  office  for  a  patriarch  I  attended  on 
the  occasion  of  the  death  of  his  Beatitude,  Boulos  Mes'ad, 
Maronite  patriarch  from  1854  to  1890.  This  was  conducted 
in  the  small  church  attached  to  the  convent  of  B'kerky, 
now  a  fine  establishment,  but  at  that  time  consisting  of  a 
humble  group  of  buildings,  which  the  Patriarch  Boulos  re- 
fused to  improve  or  enlarge.  "My  Master  lived  on  earth 
as  a  poor  man/'  he  is  reported  to  have  said;  "why  should 
his  followers  live  in  luxury?"  On  the  day  of  the  funeral 
the  chancel  was  packed  with  priests,  among  whom  a  few 
Greek  and  Armenian  Catholics  chanted  their  own  prayers 
before  the  Maronite  rite  began.  In  the  chancel  were  also 
placed  the  distinguished  guests:  the  pope's  delegate,  the 
French  consul-general,  the  head  of  the  Jesuit  mission,  and 
members  of  the  Maronite  nobility.  Court  and  corridors 
were  densely  crowded,  while  Lebanon  soldiers  attempted 
to  preserve  order  at  the  door  of  the  church.  The  dead 
patriarch,  dressed  in  full  canonicals  and  covered  with  his 
orders,  including  the  decoration  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 
received  from  Napoleon  III,  and  the  First  Order  of  the 
Medjidie,  conferred  on  him  by  the  sultan,  was  seated  up- 
right in  an  arm-chair  placed  in  an  opening  in  the  altar  rails. 
In  one  hand  was  a  large  cross,  in  the  other  his  pastoral  staff. 
His  refined,  delicate  face,  framed  by  soft,  silky  white  hair 
and  beard,  preserved  in  death  his  sweet  and  gentle  ex- 
pression. Behind  him  stood  a  priest  on  guard.  After  the 
burial  service  was  closed  by  a  simple  and  eloquent  address 
given  by  one  of  the  bishops,  the  patriarch's  outer  garments 
were  changed,  but  the  lace  pallium  sent  from  Rome  was 

1  Dust  and  oil  from  the  lamps  are  both  used  at  the  Jacobite  fu- 
nerals. The  latter  is  applied  over  the  clothes  in  the  form  of  three  large 
crosses. 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  155 

again  put  upon  him.  Then  followed  a  somewhat  ghastly 
scene,  as  the  chair  was  hoisted  into  the  air  and  the  dead 
prelate  was  borne  by  men  in  slow  procession  a  number  of 
times  around  the  church,  while  the  mitre  shook  and  almost 
fell  over.  Outside  the  church  the  body  was  seated  in  a  sort 
of  sedan-chair  with  curtains,  and  carried  to  a  large  oak, 
where  it  rested  during  the  delivery  of  speeches  by  a  number 
of  laymen.  Then  the  bishops  and  chief  guests  returned  to 
the  convent  for  dinner,  with  more  speeches,  at  least  one  of 
which  contained  a  reference  to  the  coming  patriarch.  In 
the  meantime  the  sedan-chair  had  again  been  raised  on 
the  shoulders  of  peasants,  who  were  bearing  it  two  thousand 
feet  or  more  up  the  steep  mountain-side  to  the  little  village 
of  'Ashqut,  where  the  patriarch  had  been  born  of  poor  and 
humble  parents.  Many  relations  followed  with  the  peasants 
of  the  district.  As  the  procession  approached  a  village, 
the  men  of  the  place  would  come  out  and  put  their  shoulders 
under  the  sedan-chair,  to  bear  it  to  the  next  village.  The 
interment  was  in  a  vault  of  the  church  of  'Ashqut,  where, 
in  accordance  with  the  universal  Eastern  rule  for  the  burial 
of  bishops,  the  body  of  the  patriarch  was  seated  in  a  chair. 
At  the  church  of  Ghosta,  referred  to  already,  two  bishops 
are  buried  in  vaults  or  chambers  in  the  thick  walls  of  the 
church  itself. 

III.    THE  CHURCH  YEAR 

The  Greek  Orthodox  and  the  Jacobite  Churches  still  fol- 
low the  Julian  calendar,  now  thirteen  days  behind  the  Grego- 
rian calendar,  to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  the  bodies  united  to 
Rome,  the  Greek  Catholic  Melchites,  the  Syrian  Catholics, 
and  the  Maronites  now  conform.  In  1908  the  ecumenical 
patriarch  at  Constantinople  asked  his  synod  to  join  him  in 
the  effort  to  have  the  calendar  referred  to  a  committee  of 
scientific  men  chosen  from  the  universities  of  the  world,  in 
order  that  they  might  adjust,  finally,  the  chronological  dif- 
ferences between  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  churches, 
which  he  declared  to  be  matters  quite  removed  from  the- 
ology or  churchmanship.  The  synod  refused,  but  the  in- 


156     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

cident  is  significant.1  The  inconvenience  to  a  community 
of  maintaining  a  double  calendar  is  great,  as  it  involves  a 
double  dating  of  ordinary  business  letters,  as,  for  example, 
October  22 /November  4. 

The  Syrian  ecclesiastical]  year  begins  with  the  1st  of 
October,  which  is  still  commemorated  in  the  Maronite 
calendar.2  The  Greek  year  begins  on  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber. In  all  churches  abstention  from  work  is  required  on 
the  great  movable  feasts.  With  the  Maronites  labor  should 
also  be  suspended  on  twenty-two  fixed  feast  days ;  with  the 
Greeks,  on  twenty.  Fourteen  of  these  feasts  fall  theoreti- 
cally on  the  same  dates,  though,  owing  to  the  difference  of 
calendar,  with  the  Greeks  they  are  actually  celebrated 
thirteen  days  later  than  the  Maronites.3 

The  fasts  of  the  Eastern  church  have  always  been  more 
frequent  and  more  rigorous  than  those  of  the  Western.  In 
the  Greek  communion  they  may  amount  to  two  hundred 
and  twenty-six  days  of  the  year,  including  all  Wednesdays 
and  Fridays.  Besides  Lent  there  are  three  great  periods 
of  fasting.  The  Fast  of  the  Nativity  (Advent)  lasts  forty 
days;  the  Fast  of  the  Apostles  is  variable  in  length,  begin- 
ning with  Whit-Monday  and  terminating  on  the  eve  of  the 
Feast  of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul,  June  29;  there  is  also 
a  fast  of  fourteen  days  preceding  the  Feast  of  the  Repose 
of  the  Virgin,  August  15.  Meat,  eggs,  cheese,  and  milk  are 
forbidden  in  all  fasts.  Fish  may  be  eaten  during  the  fasts 
of  the  Apostles  and  of  the  Nativity  (except  on  Wednesdays 
and  Fridays),  and  also  on  Palm  Sunday  and  the  Feast  of  the 
Transfiguration,  which  falls  in  the  Fast  of  the  Virgin.  In 
the  towns  of  Syria  considerable  laxity  is  said  to  prevail 
among  the  Orthodox  in  the  matter  of  fasting.  Theoreti- 

1  See  article,  "From  Rome  to  Constantinople,"  describing  an  inter- 
view with  the  ecumenical  patriarch,  by  Dr.  Silas  McBee  ("  The  Church- 
man," June  3,  1911). 

2  See  the  complete  Maronite  calendar  in  my  article  on  the  Maronites, 
op.  tit.,  pp.  308-318.     It  contains  a  curious  mixture  of  Eastern,  West- 
ern, and  local  saints. 

3  For  list  of  feasts  when  Maronites  and  Greeks  forbid  work,  see  Ap- 
pendix. 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  157 

cally,  all  these  fasts  are  incumbent  on  the  Greek  Catholics, 
but  many  indulgences  are  granted. 

In  general  the  Jacobite  fasts  are  the  same  as  the  Greek. 
However,  the  Fast  of  the  Nativity  lasts  only  fifteen  days 
and  that  of  the  Apostles  only  twelve.  During  the  third 
week  before  Lent  the  Syrians  fast  Mondays  and  Tuesdays 
as  well  as  Wednesdays.  This  is  called  the  Fast  of  Nineveh. 
The  very  strict  are  said  to  abstain  absolutely  from  all  food 
from  the  Sunday  supper  to  the  mid-day  meal  of  Wednes- 
day. The  Syrian  Catholics  are  granted  many  indulgences 
in  the  observance  of  these  fasts.  Fasting  with  the  Maron- 
ites  is  even  less  severe.  The  Fast  of  the  Nativity  lasts 
only  twelve  days,  that  of  the  Apostles  only  four,  and  that 
of  the  Virgin,  in  August,  only  eight.  Members  of  the 
Society  of  the  Scapular  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel 
abstain  from  meat  on  Saturdays  as  well  as  on  Wednesdays 
and  Fridays,  when  they  also  are  forbidden  eggs  and  milk. 

Space  forbids  us  to  follow  the  Eastern  ritual  systemati- 
cally, but  some  of  the  peculiar  practices  which  take  place 
during  the  ecclesiastical  year  may  be  briefly  noticed.  In 
the  Maronite  Church,  on  December  15,  the  priest  conse- 
crates two  wafers;  he  partakes  of  one  and  the  other  he 
puts  in  the  ciborium  on  the  altar,  to  be  elevated  every 
evening  from  the  16th  to  the  24th,  in  commemoration  of 
the  nine  months  of  the  Virgin's  pregnancy.  On  Christ- 
mas eve  he  partakes  of  the  second  wafer.  Sometimes  for 
this  ceremony  is  substituted  the  carrying  of  the  picture  of 
the  Infant  Jesus  around  the  church  on  the  nine  days  pre- 
ceding Christmas.  In  some  of  the  larger  Maronite  churches 
may  be  found  representations  of  mangers,  with  toy  images 
of  the  Mother  and  Child,  cattle,  and  sheep.  This  is  quite 
unknown  in  the  Greek  churches,  where  images  are  not 
tolerated.  There  is  a  quaint  ancient  Christmas  practice 
still  obtaining  in  some  of  the  Syrian  churches  of  the  interior 
— Catholic  as  well  as  Jacobite — to  commemorate  the  vigil 
of  the  shepherds  in  the  bitter  cold  of  the  fields  of  Bethle- 
hem. On  the  stone  pavement  of  the  nave  is  heaped  a  pile 
of  wood;  around  this  stand  children  dressed  in  white,  hold- 
ing torches  made  of  brushwood  with  which  they  kindle 


158     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

the  bonfire.  As  this  blazes  up  the  priest  reads  the  early 
Christinas  service. 

Curious  ancient  Syrian  practices  are  sometimes  also  con- 
nected with  the  blessing  of  the  holy  water  at  the  Feast  of 
the  Baptism  of  Christ,  January  3.  After  the  service  the 
water  is  distributed  among  the  people,  to  be  taken  home  in 
small  bottles;  but  one  bottle  is  kept  on  the  altar,  to  be  min- 
gled with  the  water  that  is  to  be  consecrated  the  next  year. 
In  churches  where  this  practice  has  been  long  handed  down, 
this  holy  water  is  said  to  be  as  old  as  the  buildings  them- 
selves. In  some  cases,  instead  of  a  general  distribution, 
the  water  is  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  the  proceeds  going 
to  the  church.  Another  analogy  with  the  Protestant  church 
fairs  of  the  United  States  sometimes  appears  at  this  service. 
The  priest  makes  an  auction  of  the  Bible,  the  large  cross, 
the  ikons,  etc.,  which  belong  to  the  church.  To  carry  these 
in  the  procession  after  the  holy  water  is  an  honor  worth 
paying  for,  and  this  honor  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  highest 
bidders  for  these  articles,  which,  when  all  is  over,  are  re- 
stored to  their  places  in  the  sanctuary  or  on  the  ikonostasis, 
as  the  case  may  be.  In  the  Maronite  celebration  of  this 
feast  the  priest  takes  a  coal  from  the  censer  and  immerses 
it  thrice  in  the  bowl  of  holy  water,  which  is  later  distributed 
among  the  people.  Similar  distribution  is  made  among 
the  worshippers  of  the  Greek  Church,  who  are  supposed,  on 
each  of  the  seven  following  days,  to  drink  a  little  of  the 
water  which  they  have  carried  home.  On  the  eve  of  this 
Feast,  at  the  Harbor  or  Mina  of  Tripoli,  the  Greeks  light 
bonfires  in  their  court-yards,  and  at  midnight  go  down  to  the 
shore,  the  sick  with  the  well,  there  to  seek  the  blessing  of 
a  bath  in  the  sea.  After  this  night  ablution  they  proceed 
to  the  church  for  early  mass.  Up  to  the  sixteenth  century, 
pilgrims  used  to  seek  baptism  in  the  Jordan  at  this  feast, 
but  the  ceremony  was  then  changed  to  Easter  week,  where 
it  is  still  regarded  as  constituting  the  proper  termination 
of  the  pilgrimage. 

In  the  Maronite  churches,  at  the  Feast  of  the  Presenta- 
tion of  Christ  to  the  Temple,  sometimes  called  the  Purifica- 
tion, there  is  placed  on  the  lectern  a  tray  of  candles  which 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  159 

are  blessed  and  sprinkled  with  holy  water.  They  are  then 
distributed  among  the  people  who  make  an  offering  of 
money.  These  candles  are  supposed  to  possess  the  virtue 
of  warding  off  sickness  and  evil  spirits,  especially  at  the 
time  of  death.  Sometimes  they  are  burned  in  booths  where 
silk-worms  are  being  raised.  The  Greeks  have  no  such 
custom  at  this  feast. 

The  Feast  of  Mar  Marun,  the  alleged  founder  of  the  Mar- 
onites,  is  celebrated  on  February  9,  when  his  picture  is 
borne  around  the  church  in  procession.  He  is  also  com- 
memorated on  the  second  Sunday  of  every  month.  Yu- 
hanna  Marun  (John  Maro),  the  first  Maronite  patriarch, 
is  commemorated  on  March  2,  and  the  three  hundred 
and  fifty  monks  of  Mar  Marun  on  July  31,  all  three  days 
being  feasts  of  abstention  from  labor. 

In  the  Eastern  churches  Lent  begins  on  Monday,  called 
the  Monday  of  the  Fast.  In  Syria  it  is  popularly  known 
as  Monk's  Monday,  from  an  indefinite  legend  that  some 
monk,  once  upon  a  time,  at  the  beginning  of  Lent,  came 
riding  into  town  on  a  donkey.  So  it  is  the  fashion  for 
crowds  to  go  out  to  the  outskirts  of  the  town  "  to  meet  the 
monk."  In  Mosul  it  is  also  known  as  Mocking  Monday, 
or  Tantalizing  Monday,  as  the  Moslems  then  make  a 
counter-demonstration  in  the  form  of  a  huge  picnic,  where 
they  ostentatiously  feast  upon  meat  and  "greasy  food." 
During  Lent  the  Greek  churches  are  draped  in  red  cloth, 
great  care  being  taken  to  cover  the  gilded  portions  of  the 
ikonostasis.  In  the  Maronite  churches,  during  Holy  Week, 
the  pictures  are  draped  in  black,  and  before  the  altar  is 
hung  a  black  curtain  on  which  have  been  sewn,  in  white 
cloth,  models  of  the  cross,  the  crown  of  thorns,  the  nails, 
hammer,  pincers,  the  scourge  of  ropes,  the  striking  hand, 
Pilate's  ewer  and  basin,  the  cock,  the  torch,  the  sword,  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars,  the  sponge,  and  the  spear. 

The  observance  of  Ash  Monday  by  the  Maronites  is  as 
follows:  On  the  evening  of  the  Saturday  previous  the  sac- 
ristan takes  some  dried  olive  twigs,  which  have  been  pre- 
served in  the  sacristy  ever  since  the  last  Palm  Sunday,  and 
reduces  them  to  ashes  in  a  brazier.  At  the  Monday  ser- 


160     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

vice  the  priest  sprinkles  the  ashes  with  holy  water  and  in- 
censes them,  praying  for  a  blessing  upon  them.  Then,  one 
by  one,  the  people  advance  and  the  priest  makes  the  sign  of 
the  cross  upon  their  foreheads  with  the  ashes,  saying:  "Re- 
member, O  man,  thou  art  dust  and  to  dust  thou  shalt  re- 
turn." The  Greek  service  has  no  especial  features.  With 
the  Syrians  oil  is  used  instead  of  ashes. 

On  the  Saturday  before  Palm  Sunday  a  practice,  now 
moribund,  used  to  be  common  to  all  the  churches  and  still 
may  be  seen  in  the  interior.  According  to  this  custom  the 
school-boys  go  from  house  to  house  enacting  a  crude  sort 
of  miracle  play  written  on  a  roll  of  paper  and  commemorat- 
ing in  poetical  language  the  raising  of  Lazarus.  Two  boys 
hold  the  extended  roll  while  the  other  boys  chant  the  story, 
except  the  one  who  lies  on  the  ground  underneath  the  roll 
to  represent  Lazarus.  When  they  reach  the  point  where 
the  dead  man  comes  forth,  the  boy  gets  up  and  the  paper  is 
rolled  up  again.  The  collection  made  of  money  and  prod- 
uce is  supposed  to  go  to  the  teacher  who  copied  the  story. 

In  former  days  on  Palm  Sunday  the  Maronites  used 
sometimes  to  erect  an  olive  tree  in  the  church,  but  the  pull- 
ing of  this  to  pieces,  branch  by  branch,  by  the  people  pro- 
duced such  an  unseemly  disturbance  that  the  practice  was 
abandoned.  At  present  a  tray  of  olive  twigs  or  small 
branches  rests  on  the  lectern  while  the  service  takes  place. 
After  being  blessed,  these  are  carried  in  procession,  while 
the  singers  chant  the  words:  "Hosanna  to  the  Son  of 
David!"  The  twigs  are  taken  home  for  a  blessing.  The 
thrifty  Syrians,  who  have  a  similar  service  but  may  omit 
the  procession,  sometimes  sell  these  at  auction  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  church.  With  the  Greeks,  dried  palm  branches, 
cut  and  braided,  are  carried  in  the  procession  by  the  people 
and  later  taken  home. 

The  ceremony  of  washing  the  disciples'  feet  on  Maundy 
Thursday  has  ever  had  a  wide  celebration.  As  the  Lord's 
anointed,  kings  have  performed  this.  The  King  of  Spain 
still  "washes  the  feet"  of  twelve  old  men,  and  the  queen,  of 
twelve  old  women.  The  Emperor  of  Austria  also  follows 
the  practice.  In  the  Greek  Church  the  washing  must  be 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  161 

done  by  a  bishop,  and  the  disciples  must  be  represented  by 
men  who  are  at  least  in  priest's  orders.  In  Jerusalem  this 
function  is  performed  with  great  pomp  and  splendor  in 
the  court-yard  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  where 
a  platform  is  erected  on  which  are  seated  the  patriarch  and 
twelve  bishops,  whose  feet  he  washes,  while  the  thousands 
of  spectators  crowd  the  court  and  the  roofs  of  the  sur- 
rounding buildings.  Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  assembling 
twelve  priests,  the  function  is  often  omitted  in  Syria.  In 
the  villages  the  event  is  symbolized  by  smearing  the  altar 
with  oil  and  anointing  it  with  holy  water. 

A  similar  regulation,  requiring  the  presence  of  a  bishop 
and  twelve  priests,  obtains  with  the  Syrians,  but  I  am  told 
that  on  necessity  two  priests  may  represent  the  bishop  and 
that  deacons  may  take  the  place  of  all  the  disciples  except 
Peter.  In  the  town  of  Hama  (Hamath)  an  amusing  and 
homely  practice  used  to  take  place  after  this  Syrian  ser- 
vice. The  people  would  hoist  the  bishop  in  a  chair,  cry- 
ing: "Bring  us  the  feast!"  On  the  bishop's  replying: 
"The  feast  is  far  off,"  they  would  renew  their  laughing 
cries  of  "We  must  have  the  feast!  Give  us  the  feast!" 
Whereupon  the  bishop  would  say:  "The  feast  is  in  three 
days!"  for  not  till  then  would  they  let  him  down. 

With  the  Maronites  the  service  requires  the  presence  of 
one  priest  only,  hence  it  is  commonly  observed  in  all  towns 
and  villages.  For  the  use  of  small  churches  the  service  book 
gives  an  alternative  rite.  It  is  said  that  after  the  ceremony 
is  over  the  school-boy  who  is  supposed  to  have  represented 
Judas  is  sometimes  mocked  and  beaten  by  his  comrades, 
in  a  spirit  of  mischief.  Some  years  ago  I  witnessed  the 
full  service  in  the  Maronite  cathedral  of  Beyrout.  On  a 
platform  built  out  into  the  nave  below  the  pulpit  had  been 
placed  twelve  chairs,  six  facing  six,  on  which  sat  twelve 
school-boys  in  surplices.  The  bishop  in  his  ordinary  sou- 
tane mounted  the  platform,  and  there  was  robed  in  full 
canonicals,  with  mitre  and  staff.  He  then  took  his  seat  at 
one  end.  In  the  pulpit  a  priest  and  a  deacon  chanted  the 
account  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  When  they  came  to  the 
words:  "He  arose  from  supper,"  the  bishop  arose,  was 


162     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

disrobed  of  his  canonicals,  and  was  girt  about  with  a  towel. 
The  bishop  then  washed  the  heel  of  the  right  foot  of  three 
boys.  He  was  then  robed  again  and  took  his  seat,  while 
some  chanting  went  on.  After  a  second  reading  by  priest 
and  deacon,  the  bishop,  being  again  disrobed,  proceeded  to 
wash  the  feet  of  three  other  boys,  as  before.  This  was 
done  a  third  and  a  fourth  time,  but  after  the  feet  of  two  of 
the  last  trio  of  boys  had  been  washed,  when  the  reader 
reached  the  words:  "Then  cometh  he  to  Simon  Peter  and 
Peter  saith  unto  him,"  the  last  boy  arose  and  read  from  a 
paper:  "  Lord,  dost  thou  wash  my  feet  ? "  The  bishop  then 
read  the  reply.  When  the  colloquy  was  completed,  with 
no  attempt  at  dramatic  effect,  the  bishop  completed  the 
washing. 

On  this  same  Thursday  the  Maronite  patriarch  at  his 
seat,  with  two  or  three  bishops,  consecrates  the  oil  of  bap- 
tism, oil  for  extreme  unction,  and  the  holy  chrism  (the 
meirun),  all  three  kinds  of  oil  to  be  distributed  by  the  bish- 
ops among  the  Maronite  churches  for  use  during  the  com- 
ing year.  Oil  remaining  from  the  year  before  is  burned. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  Greek  patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
with  twelve  bishops,  consecrates  the  meirun  for  all  the  four 
patriarchates,  its  preparation  being  very  costly.  During 
the  recent  periods  of  his  alienation  (for  two  different  rea- 
sons) from  the  patriarchs  of  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  they 
received  the  meirun  from  the  metropolitan  of  St.  Peters- 
burg. 

On  Good  Friday  no  mass  is  said  in  any  of  the  Eastern 
churches.  They  all  maintain  the  service  of  the  Adoration 
of  the  Cross,  known  usually  in  Arabic  as  the  jennaz,  or  the 
burial,  which  is  ordinarily  conducted  in  the  afternoon, 
though  the  Maronite  rubric  appoints  it  for  the  morning. 
In  the  Greek  Church  the  ceremony  includes  the  follow- 
ing features:  On  the  altar  is  placed  a  richly  embroidered 
cloth  on  which  is  imprinted  the  figure  of  the  dead  Christ. 
For  this,  in  poorer  churches,  may  be  substituted  the  anti- 
mins,  or  cloth  on  which  the  Gospels  always  rest  betweeii 
services,  and  on  which  the  cup  and  paten  are  placed  dur- 
ing the  liturgy.  At  the  burial  the  cloth  is  covered  with 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  163 

flowers.  When  the  long  service  comes  to  a  close  the  priest 
places  the  cloth  on  his  head,  with  some  one  behind  to  hold 
out  the  ends,  and  leads  a  procession  three  times  around  the 
church.  Sometimes,  instead  of  resting  on  the  priest's  head, 
the  cloth  is  hung  over  a  combination  of  bier  and  coffin,  open 
on  four  sides,  and  overarched,  which  the  priest  carries  with 
uplifted  hands.  Sometimes  the  cloth  is  borne  by  four  lay- 
men. In  any  case,  as  it  is  carried  around  the  church  sick 
people  and  women  desiring  children  pass  under  it  "for  a 
blessing."  When  a  "bier"  is  used  this  is  then  set  down  on 
the  floor  of  the  nave;  or,  if  there  is  no  bier,  the  cloth  is 
placed  on  a  table.  In  the  nave  it  remains  till  Saturday 
evening,  when  it  is  placed,  unfolded,  on  the  altar,  there  to 
rest  till  the  eve  of  Ascension  Day.  If  the  antimins  has 
been  used,  this  practice  cannot  be  carried  out,  as  this  sa- 
cred object  must  always  be  folded  when  the  Gospels  rest 
under  it.  The  flowers  are  distributed  among  the  people. 

The  Maronite  service  of  the  burial  I  once  attended  at 
the  church  of  Mar  Elyas,  in  Beyrout.  In  the  centre  of  the 
nave  there  was  erected  a  small  platform,  upon  which  was 
placed  a  short,  deep  bier,  hung  with  white  lace  and  pink 
cambric,  and  surrounded  by  candles.  As  the  people  came, 
in  they  threw  bunches  of  flowers  into  the  bier.  In  front 
of  the  altar  there  was  a  wooden  stand  with  steps,  on  which 
was  erected  a  cross  with  a  colored  plaster  image  of  the 
Saviour  fastened  to  it,  about  three  feet  high  and  covered 
with  crape.  On  either  side  there  was  a  candle,  one  veiled 
in  crape.  A  round  table  covered  with  service  books  stood 
just  outside  the  altar  rails  at  one  side;  the  priest  and  lay- 
men both  read  from  the  same  books,  the  former  standing 
within,  the  latter  without  the  rails.  The  priest  wore  no 
vestments,  but  at  times  assumed  the  stole.  When  the  ser- 
vice, which  was  long  and  impressive  and  included  many 
Scripture  selections,  had  continued  for  some  time,  the  can- 
dles were  lighted  and  the  priest  unfastened  the  image  from 
the  cross.  Bearing  it  into  the  body  of  the  church,  he  placed 
it  in  the  bier  and  covered  it  up  with  flowers.  Four  men  in 
surplices  took  up  the  bier  by  its  handles  and  carried  it 
around  the  church  three  times,  preceded  by  the  priest  walk- 


164     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

ing  backward  and  swinging  the  censer,  and  followed  by  a 
procession  of  men  and  boys  chanting  and  bearing  candles. 
When  they  put  down  the  bier  in  the  nave,  the  priest  walked 
around  it,  prostrating  himself  on  each  side.  He  then  took 
a  large  silver  crucifix  and  held  it  up  for  the  people  to  kiss, 
repeating  as  they  pressed  forward  the  Arabic  salutation  for 
feast  days,  equivalent  to  "Many  happy  returns  of  the  day!" 
literally,  "Every  year  may  you  be  at  peace!"  As  the  peo- 
ple went  out  they  stopped  before  a  small  table  at  which  was 
seated  the  "  wakil,"  or  lay-agent  of  the  church,  with  a  plate 
before  him  containing  a  mixture  of  oil  and  dough,  into 
which  he  dipped  a  candle,  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  on 
the  forehead  of  those  who  left  a  piece  of  money.  Later 
the  image  was  placed  in  the  "  tomb,"  or  opening  under  one 
of  the  side  altars  at  the  south  of  the  nave,  which  had  been 
decorated  with  flowers  and  candles  in  preparation  for  the 
burial.  In  the  villages  the  ritual  is  less  elaborate.  A  sim- 
ple crucifix  is  placed  on  a  black  cloth  resting  on  a  chair, 
the  cloth  taking  the  place  of  the  bier. 

Our  account  of  the  Syrian  "burial"  follows,  in  the  main, 
the  description  given  me  by  a  late  deacon  in  the  Jacobite 
Church,  with  some  added  details.  At  the  south  side  of  the 
nave,  in  front  of  the  ikonostasis,  is  erected  a  life-size  cross, 
in  shape  of  a  T,  the  top  vertical  bar  being  supplied  by  a 
small  cross,  which  later  is  removed.  At  either  end  of  the 
crossbar  of  the  T  are  placed  candles.  In  the  course  of  the 
reading,  when  reference  is  made  to  the  breaking  of  the  legs 
of  the  two  thieves,  the  candle  on  the  left  is  broken  and  then 
put  out  by  one  of  the  laymen.  At  the  reference  to  the  "  vin- 
egar and  gall"  a  liquid  under  this  name  is  given  to  the 
people  to  drink.  Toward  the  close  of  the  service  the  priest 
takes  down  the  cross,  and  laying  it  on  a  long  towel  that 
rests  on  his  open  palms,  bears  it  in  procession  three  times 
around  the  church  and  into  the  sanctuary.  On  the  altar 
is  a  basin  of  water  mingled  with  vinegar  and  sweet  per- 
fumes. Washing  the  cross  in  this  water,  he  covers  it  with 
cotton  and  wraps  it  in  a  towel,  and  places  it  in  the  space 
under  the  altar,  amid  spices,  with  a  lamp  by  its  side  and  a 
curtain  in  front.  Here  it  remains  till  Easter.  According 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  1G5 

to  an  old  custom,  apparently  forgotten  in  some  churches  at 
the  present  time,  two  deacons  sit  by  this  "tomb,"  quietly 
reading  psalms,  till  they  are  replaced  by  another  pair,  who 
maintain  their  part  in  a  continuous  vigil  that  lasts  till 
Easter  morning.  The  water  in  which  the  cross  was  washed 
is  distributed  among  the  people,  to  be  drunk  on  the  spot  or 
to  be  taken  home  in  little  cups.  It  may  be  added  that  the 
Syrian  Catholics  observe  this  same  service. 

On  Saturday  noon  of  Holy  Week  the  bells  which  have 
been  silent  since  Thursday  morning  are  again  rung.  In 
some  country  places  the  ancient  naqus,  or  board  struck  with 
a  hammer,  takes  the  place  of  a  bell.  Holy  Saturday  has  no 
distinctive  features  except  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sep- 
ulchre, at  Jerusalem,  where  the  oft-described  ceremony  of 
the  holy  fire  attracts  thousands  of  visitors  and  demands  the 
presence  of  the  Turkish  governor  as  well  as  of  many  sol- 
diers to  prevent  disturbance  among  the  rival  Christian 
bodies.  The  simple  people  believe  that  the  fire,  which  is 
passed  out  from  a  small  hole  in  the  tabernacle  or  cubicu- 
lum  built  over  the  alleged  tomb  of  Christ,  has  actually  de- 
scended from  heaven,  and  thus  does  not  burn  like  ordinary 
fire.  Accordingly,  in  their  ecstasy  they  pass  their  kindled 
torches  over  their  faces  and  beards.  In  the  presence  of  the 
Greek  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  I  heard  a  Greek  bishop  pro- 
test against  the  popular  Protestant  description  of  the  holy 
fire  as  a  stupendous  fraud.  He  volunteered  the  statement 
that  it  is  kindled  by  a  priest,  adding  that  the  present  hier- 
archy cannot  be  held  responsible  for  the  belief  of  pilgrims 
that  it  descends  from  heaven. 

At  about  half-past  three  on  Easter  morning  the  bells  of 
the  Greek  churches  begin  to  ring.  The  service  opens  with 
a  procession  led  by  the  priest  dressed  in  full  canonicals, 
carrying  the  ikon  of  Christ  and  cross  and  swinging  the  cen- 
ser. Three  times  the  procession  passes  out  of  the  west  door 
of  the  church  and  in  at  the  south  door.  But  the  last  time 
a  pause  is  made  in  the  porch  while  the  priest  reads  the 
Gospel,  having  rested  the  ikon  on  a  chair.  After  saying 
"Christ  is  risen!"  he  leads  the  procession  once  more  into 
the  church  and  the  ikon  is  placed  on  a  stand  in  the  centre 


166     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

of  the  nave,  there  to  remain  till  Ascension  Day.  The  priest 
then  enters  the  sanctuary  for  the  completion  of  the  service. 
The  usual  Easter  salutation  is  "The  Lord  is  risen,"  with 
the  answer:  "He  is  risen  indeed."  In  Russia  they  add: 
"  And  has  appeared  unto  Peter." 

With  the  Maronites  the  Easter  service  begins  immedi- 
ately after  midnight.  After  preliminary  prayers,  the  priest, 
fully  vested,  approaches  the  "tomb"  where  the  image  has 
lain  since  Good  Friday,  and,  incensing  it,  calls  out  in  Syr- 
iac  three  times:  "Christ  who  rose  from  the  house  of  the 
dead  has  had  mercy  upon  us!"  He  then  takes  out  the 
image,  covers  it  with  a  white  veil,  and  carries  it  held  up  in 
front  of  his  face,  while  the  people  follow  in  grand  proces- 
sion, singing  and  chanting.  After  all  have  kissed  the  cross, 
the  flowers  are  distributed  "  for  a  blessing." 

In  the  Syrian  churches,  very  early  Easter  morning  the 
priest  goes  into  the  sanctuary  alone  and  takes  out  the  cross 
from  the  "  tomb"  under  the  altar.  Then  opening  the  gates 
of  the  screen,  he  holds  it  up  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people, 
saying  in  a  loud  voice:  "To-day  the  Lord  is  risen  from  the 
dead!"  It  was  many,  many  years  since  the  friend  who  de- 
scribed this  service  to  me  had  been  a  Syrian  "  deacon,"  and 
during  the  interval  he  had  preached  as  an  ordained  Protes- 
tant minister  from  behind  a  desk  in  the  bare  chapels  or 
school-houses  of  the  American  Presbyterian  Mission,  but 
the  reflection  of  that  Easter  glow  was  still  on  his  face  as  he 
told  of  the  joy  that  filled  his  heart  when  he  heard  these 
words,  and  saw  the  simple  act  which  brought  to  a  climax 
the  quaint  symbolism  with  which  the  Syrian  Church  depicts 
the  history  of  the  passion. 

Easter  Monday  and  Tuesday  are  both  feasts,  but  only  on 
Monday  is  cessation  from  labor  obligatory.  The  season  is 
celebrated  by  wearing  new  clothes  and  by  making  visits 
of  ceremony.  The  children  amuse  themselves  by  coloring 
eggs,  which  they  strike  together  in  a  regular  game.  The 
great  Greek  Easter  procession  called  Dowra-el-Ba'uth  is 
made  on  Easter  Monday  and  sometimes  also  on  Tuesday. 
In  former  days  all  the  priests  in  Beyrout  used  to  assemble 
at  the  episcopal  residence,  where  they  assumed  their  vest- 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  167 

ments  and  then  invested  the  bishop.  All  would  then  go  in 
grand  procession  to  the  cathedral  in  the  town,  followed  by 
a  huge  crowd,  with  the  constant  firing  of  guns  and  revolv- 
ers in  the  air,  which  did  not  cease  even  when  the  priests 
entered  the  cathedral.  In  consequence  of  such  disorderly 
scenes  the  out-of-door  function  was  prohibited  and  for  it 
was  substituted  a  procession  three  times  around  the  interior 
of  the  cathedral.  It  is  still  the  custom  for  the  priests  to 
follow  each  other  in  reading  the  Gospel  for  the  day,  verse 
by  verse,  in  as  many  languages  as  possible:  Greek,  Arabic, 
Turkish,  Russian,  English,  and  French.1 

An  extraordinary  elaboration  of  this  Easter  procession, 
which  appears  to  have  fused  together  elements  both  Chris- 
tian and  pagan,  has  been  evolved  at  the  Orthodox  village 
of  Mahardy,  near  the  gorge  of  the  Orontes,  in  northern 
Syria.  It  is  the  crown  of  the  Easter  festival  and  may  be 
celebrated  Monday  or  Tuesday.  Indeed,  when  I  saw  it  in 
1909  it  had  been  postponed  to  Wednesday,  on  account  of 
bad  weather.  Originating  as  a  simple  procession  within 
the  church,  the  dowra  later  girdled  the  exterior  of  the  build- 
ing, and  now  in  encircling  the  town  itself  moves  over  a  cir- 
cumference of  more  than  a  mile.  The  start  is  made  from 
the  church,  which  is  also  the  terminal  point.  Every  one  is 
in  gala  dress.  Bridal  couples  of  the  autumn  before  don 
their  wedding  raiment.  On  the  dark  bands  around  the 
brides'  foreheads  glitters  the  gold  of  ornaments,  nor  do 
their  sober  outer  skirts  conceal  the  gorgeous  crimson  of 
silken  dresses.  Moslems  from  neighboring  villages  and 
Arabs  from  the  Eastern  desert  join  the  crowds.  The  air  is 
full  of  the  sharp  crack  of  pistols.  Horsemen  dash  across  the 
fields,  hurling  at  each  other  long  light  sticks,  in  the  play  of 
the  jerid.  But  it  is  the  dance  of  the  Debky  that  dominates 
the  feast.  For  four  days,  Sunday  included,  dress  rehearsals 
have  been  going  on.  Everywhere  parties  are  formed,  young 
men  joining  hands  with  girls,  in  circles  that  begin  with  a 
dozen  but  that  grow  with  extraordinary  elasticity  before  the 
bewildered  eyes  of  the  spectator  who  cannot  note  how  many 
slip  in.  As  they  dance  they  sing.  At  the  reading  of  the 

1  This  is  sometimes  done  on  Easter  Sunday. 


168     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

Gospels  the  dancing,  indeed,  stops.  In  former  times  the 
Gospel  was  read  at  the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  village, 
but  now  the  reading  is  confined  to  one  spot  near  the  ceme- 
tery. When  this  is  over  the  impatient  youths  and  maidens 
dash  on  ahead  to  weave  new  dancing  circles.  In  the  mean- 
time the  reformed  procession  continues  on  its  circular  route. 
In  the  forefront  may  be  seen  a  massive  silver  cross  carried 
by  a  layman;  then  comes  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  held  high 
in  the  air  by  bearers  who  constantly  relieve  each  other;  a 
flaming  torch,  carried  near  the  Gospels,  represents  a  can- 
dle; next  follows  the  priest  in  gold  brocade,  and  behind  him 
comes  a  man  who  carries  a  pole  twenty  feet  high  from  which 
flies  a  flag  of  blue  silk  with  white  stars.  Priest  and  people 
chant  as  they  walk.  The  church  is  in  the  centre  of  a  laby- 
rinth of  little  lanes  which  encircle  the  rude  brown  houses. 
As  the  distant  sound  of  the  chanting — "Christ  is  risen! 
Christ  is  risen!" — reaches  the  church,  an  advance  crowd 
pours  into  the  small  court-yard,  swarms  up  the  outside  steps 
leading  to  the  roof,  throngs  the  roofs  of  adjacent  buildings. 
Instantly,  as  if  by  magic,  the  seething  mass  of  humanity  in 
the  court-yard  resolves  itself  into  three  dancing  circles.  The 
leader  in  the  centre  of  each  circle  strikes  up  a  merry  tune. 
As  the  procession  comes  near,  the  droning  chants  of  Chris- 
tianity strike  discordant  against  the  saucy  rhymes  of  pa- 
ganism. Then  for  a  brief  moment  Church  is  triumphant. 
Dancing  and  singing  suddenly  cease;  chatter  dies  away; 
faces  grow  sober;  while  the  priest  takes  his  stand  at  the 
door  of  the  sacred  building  and  begins  to  explain  the  relig- 
ious significance  of  the  ceremony.  But  hardly  is  the  last 
word  out  of  his  mouth  when  paganism  rebounds  with  a 
leap.  The  broken  circles  are  reformed;  an  increased  fury 
of  fun  seizes  the  dancing  boys  and  girls;  into  the  swaying 
movements  has  come  a  new  abandon.  The  dowra  season 
is  passing,  so  the  tense  faces  seem  to  say,  let  us  make  the 
most  of  it!  Even  so  have  danced  their  ancestors  before 
them,  through  the  long  centuries,  while  cult  has  replaced 
cult  on  this  ancient  plain  of  the  Orontes. 

Between   Easter  and  Pentecost   the   Maronites  do   not 
kneel  in  the  churches  nor  prostrate  themselves,  signifying 


THE  CHURCH  YEAR  169 

by  erect  posture  that  they  are  "risen  in  Christ."  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  latter  feast,  on  which  they  return  to  their  kneel- 
ing, there  is  an  especial  rite,  divided  into  three  parts,  in 
honor  of  the  three  persons  in  the  Godhead  respectively. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  part  the  priest  says  in  a  loud  voice, 
turning  to  the  people:  "Kneel  before  the  Lord  upon  the 
left  knee."  The  people  obey.  After  a  prayer  the  priest 
says:  "Rise  in  the  strength  of  God  and  worship  him  who 
rides  upon  the  sun-settings,  etc."  In  the  second  part  they 
kneel  upon  the  right  knee  and  in  the  third  upon  both  to- 
gether. The  Greeks  do  not  ordinarily  kneel  in  the  churches, 
except  during  Lent  from  Mondays  to  Fridays  inclusive,  but 
on  the  Day  of  Pentecost  they  have  a  service  called  Es-Sejdi, 
similar  to  the  Maronite  rite  in  that  they  kneel  three  times. 
Parry  describes  a  curious  Pentecostal  custom  obtaining 
among  the  Syrians.  After  the  sermon  all  deacons  begin  to 
chant,  but  suddenly  stop  and  pretend  to  be  asleep.  Then 
each  man  taps  his  neighbor's  shoulder  to  wake  him,  while 
the  priest  prays  and  scatters  water  with  an  almond  branch 
over  the  people.  This  act,  performed  three  times,  signifies 
the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  descending  on  the  sleeping  mem- 
bers of  the  church.1 

The  Feast  of  Corpus  Christi  is  solemnly  observed  by  the 
Maronites  under  the  name  of  Khamis-ej-Jesed,  or  Thursday 
of  the  Body,  but  not  by  the  Greeks.  As  the  host  is  carried 
from  church  to  church,  all  in  the  streets  and  shops  are  ex- 
pected to  rise.  The  following  feasts  are  common  to  all  the 
churches.  At  the  Feast  of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul, 
June  29,  a  basin  of  water  is  placed  on  the  lectern  in  the 
Maronite  churches,  and  after  it  is  blessed  the  people  fill 
bottles  to  take  home.  On  the  feasts  of  Mar  Elyas,  July 
20,  and  of  Es-Sayyidy  (the  Repose  or.  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin,  August  15)  huge  crowds,  bent  quite  as  much  on 
merrymaking  as  on  worship,  flock  to  the  convents  that 
bear  the  names  of  the  Prophet  Elijah  and  the  Virgin.  On 
September  14,  the  Feast  of  the  Finding  of  the  Cross,  bon- 
fires are  kindled  in  memory  of  the  signals  that  flashed  Hel- 
ena's great  news  from  Jerusalem  to  Constantinople.  As 

1  "Six  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery,"  op.  tit.,  p.  341. 


170     RITUAL  OF  THE  EASTERN  CHURCHES 

seen  from  Beyrout,  the  Lebanon  mountain-side  fairly  blazes 
with  a  multitude  of  brilliant  lights.  All-Saints  is  celebrated 
by  the  Maronites  on  November  1,  but  by  the  Greeks  on  the 
Sunday  succeeding  Pentecost,  thus  taking  the  place  of  the 
Trinity  Sunday  of  the  West. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

WHILE  Christianity  and  Islam  hold  many  great  and  es- 
sential truths  in  common,  the  difference  between  them  as 
systems  is  fundamental.  Christ's  conception  of  life  was  not 
Mohammed's  conception  of  life.  The  attitude  of  Christians 
toward  Jesus  is  not  the  attitude  of  Moslems  toward  their 
prophet.  Of  these  points  the  present  chapter  furnishes 
abundant  illustration.  But  the  difference  between  the  two 
religions  is  not  only  a  difference  between  systems,  it  is  a 
difference  of  atmosphere.  In  each  case,  moreover,  the  sys- 
tem creates  the  atmosphere.  It  is  the  belief  of  Christians 
that  they  may  draw  direct  inspiration  from  the  glorified 
Christ,  or,  as  one  school  of  theology  would  express  it,  from 
the  Heavenly  Father,  of  whom  they  may  have  the  best 
knowledge  only  through  the  words  and  life  of  Jesus.  Such 
a  belief,  stimulating  personal  loyalty  from  the  beginning, 
has  through  the  ages  produced  a  moral  atmosphere,  at  once 
warm  and  buoyant,  in  which  idealism  has  never  ceased  to 
be  a  force.  Chilled  and  relaxed  the  atmosphere  may  be- 
come during  periods  when  the  belief  itself  is  distorted  and 
obscured;  the  force  of  the  ideal  remains  latent  notwith- 
standing. Mohammed  uttered  noble  words:  he  had  lofty 
aspirations,  but  the  record  of  his  life  can  never  draw  his 
followers  upward  to  the  heights  of  the  Christian  ideal. 
Christendom  has,  during  the  course  of  its  history,  sunk  to 
low  depths  of  morality,  but  its  standards  have  still  remained 
terribly  high.  Religion  does  not  claim  to  control  an  indi- 
vidual against  his  will,  but  every  religion  powerfully  affects 
the  community,  which  consists  simply  of  individuals  in  the 
mass.  In  the  best  Christian  lands  to-day,  lands  in  which 

171 


172  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

the  ideal  flames  the  most  brightly,  flagrant  evils  may  flour- 
ish which  religion  neither  prevents  nor  destroys;  but  such 
evils  are  generally  abhorred;  they  are  practised  at  the  risk 
of  heavy  punishment;  and  their  ultimate  suppression  is  re- 
garded as  both  necessary  and  possible.  Even  in  such  lands 
the  moral  atmosphere,  sensitive  both  to  good  and  evil,  may 
fluctuate.  Fluctuations  occur  in  our  own  land.  But  in 
spite  of  our  alarming  national  record  for  divorce,  reflecting 
the  attitude  toward  marriage  of  a  small  but  unhappily  in- 
creasing minority;  in  spite  of  the  frequent  failure  to  convict 
for  crimes  of  violence,  due  to  an  overscrupulous  regard  for 
legal  technicalities;  and,  more  important  still,  in  spite  of  the 
consequent  lowering  of  the  moral  atmosphere,  breathed  by 
the  whole  body  politic  and  thus  subtly  affecting  even  those 
whose  personal  ideals  and  practice  may  remain  on  the  high- 
est plane,  but  who  at  the  same  time  are  unconsciously  in- 
duced to  relax  their  belief  in  the  universal  applicability  of 
these  ideals,  or  to  view  with  a  certain  indulgence  those  who 
deny  the  moral  imperative  of  these  ideals — in  spite  of  all 
these  tendencies,  it  is  to  be  thankfully  believed  that  the 
ideals  and  practice  of  the  sound  majority  will  again  clarify 
the  moral  atmosphere.  In  our  land  even  a  distant  approach 
to  conditions  prevailing  in  the  Mohammedan  world  is  in- 
conceivable. 

For  a  relaxed  moral  atmosphere  pervades  Islam,  even  in 
countries  where  its  tenets  are  most  purely  followed  and 
where  the  characteristic  Oriental  decorum  or  outward  re- 
spectability is  most  noticeable.  A  low  view  of  marriage  is 
stereotyped  in  the  Koran,  with  its  legislation  regarding  po- 
lygamy. The  temporary  marriages  permitted  to  the  Shi'ahs 
constitute  a  legalized  prostitution.  With  the  Sunnis,  not 
only  polygamy  and  concubinage  with  slaves  are  sanctioned, 
but  divorce  may  depend  practically  on  the  caprice  of  the 
husband.  Formal  sins  against  purity,  stigmatized  by  the 
Koran,  are  held  in  toleration  and  are  regarded  with  indul- 
gence even  by  many  Moslems  who  would  utterly  shrink 
from  practising  them.  In  such  an  atmosphere  innocent 
children  have  a  knowledge  of  vices  unknown  even  by  name 
to  many  adults  in  Christian  lands.  My  foreman  reported 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  173 

an  inconceivable  license  of  speech  among  the  fellahin,  em- 
ployed in  the  excavations  where  men,  women,  and  girls 
worked  together.  The  petrifying  formalism  of  Mohamme- 
danism, acknowledged  by  advanced  Mohammedan  think- 
ers,1 which  produces  the  tendency,  often  nobly  withstood,  a 
tendency  to  divorce  the  practice  of  religion  from  the  prac- 
tice of  morality,  has  greatly  helped  to  preserve  a  low  moral 
atmosphere.  The  popular  conception  of  a  sensual  paradise 
has  further  tended  to  the  same  result. 

It  should  not  be  necessary  to  add  that  in  spite  of  its  low 
idealism  Islam  has  always  had  its  saints  and  has  its  saints 
to-day.  "Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart  for  they  shall  see 
God"  was  uttered  as  a  universal  truth  with  no  limiting 
phrase.  The  followers  of  Jesus  can  never  rise  higher  than 
his  teachings,  but  Moslem  practice  is  sometimes  better 
than  Moslem  precept.  How  the  desire  for  inward  holi- 
ness finds  expression  in  the  religious  orders  we  shall  see  in 
our  next  chapter.  But  good  men  are  everywhere  found 
among  the  rank  and  file  of  Islam.  Oriental  Christians  ac- 
knowledge that  their  conscientious  Moslem  neighbors  often 
show  a  high  type  of  character.  British  merchants  in  Syria 
have  testified  to  the  absolute  integrity  of  Moslem  agents. 
Missionaries  declare  that  they  have  found  true  men  of  God 
among  the  Mohammedans.  "To  do  justice  and  to  love 
mercy"  is  the  common  aim  of  all  good  men.  In  no  coun- 
try is  the  best  type  of  Moslem  character  more  widely  repre- 
sented than  in  those  under  present  consideration.  A  well- 
known  American  missionary  in  Arabia,  where  some  of  the 
worst  features  of  Mohammedanism  are  accentuated,  once 
remarked:  "In  Syria  and  Palestine  Islam  is  at  its  best." 

It  is  inevitable  that  in  the  chapters  dealing  with  Islam 
comparison  should  be  made,  explicitly  as  well  as  uncon- 

1  "  For  the  last  few  centuries  Islam  has  become,  in  the  minds  of  a 
large  number  of  its  votaries,  associated  with  a  lifeless  formalism,  the 
practice  of  its  rules  of  morality  has  given  place  to  mere  profession,  and 
its  real  aim  as  a  creed  to  live  by  has  been  forgotten."  "The  Spirit  of 
Islam  or  the  Life  and  Teachings  of  Mohammed,"  by  Ameer  Ali,  Syed 
(Calcutta,  1902),  preface  to  popular  edition,  p.  ix. 


174  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

sciously,  between  the  Koran  and  the  Bible.  Such  a  com- 
parison, however,  should  always  be  cognizant  of  the  great 
differences  between  them,  relating  not  only  to  matters  in- 
ternal but  to  external  facts.  The  Koran  was  the  work  of 
one  man:  Mohammed,  the  unlettered  prophet  of  Arabia. 
Many  writers  contributed  to  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ments: historians,  jurists,  poets,  prophets,  philosophers, 
sages.  The  Koran  is  claimed  to  have  been  revealed,  bit  by 
bit,  through  the  brief  period  of  twenty-three  years.  Mate- 
rial for  the  formation  of  the  Bible  canon  took  from  twelve 
to  sixteen  centuries  for  its  accumulation,  to  quote  the  two 
extremes  of  chronological  estimate.  The  New  Testament 
forms  less  than  one-quarter  of  the  whole  Bible.  The  Koran 
is  about  two-thirds  the  length  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
Bible  was  written  in  three  languages:  Hebrew,  Aramaic, 
and  Greek.  The  Koran  was  composed  in  Arabic  alone. 
Biblical  theology  must  recognize  many  trends  of  thought 
and  a  gradual  development  of  doctrine  through  centuries. 
Variations  of  teaching  in  the  Koran  are  confined  to  the 
slight  changes  of  belief  of  one  man  during  religious  experi- 
ences covering  but  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

It  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  Mohammed  ever  came 
into  actual  contact  with  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures. 
Biblical  stories  plainly  filtered  down  to  him  through  oral 
rabbinical  traditions  of  the  Talmud.  From  the  same 
source  was  derived  his  eschatology.  His  account  of  the  life 
of  Jesus  seems  to  have  reached  him  through  a  corrupted 
oral  tradition  or  through  echoes  of  the  apocryphal  Gospels. 
His  conception  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  as  consisting  of 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  was  his  inter- 
pretation of  the  only  sort  of  Christianity  he  knew.  All  this 
reflects  light  upon  the  source  of  his  doctrine  of  God  and 
of  his  noblest  spiritual  conceptions.  It  is  inconceivable 
that  a  man  who  regarded  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus  as  one 
with  Mary  the  sister  of  Moses,  and  who  believed  that 
Haman  was  prominent  in  Pharaoh's  court,  had  so  searched 
the  Scriptures  as  to  assimilate  their  religious  teachings. 
The  Koranic  doctrine  of  God  has  much  in  common  with 
the  view  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  the  coincidence,  in  my 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  175 

opinion,  arises  from  Mohammed's  direct  spiritual  intuition, 
which  led  him  to  a  vision  of  some  of  the  truths  revealed  to 
the  Hebrew  prophets.  From  the  same  inner  source  came 
his  other  lofty  spiritual  sentiments,  examples  of  which 
have  been  grouped  in  the  next  section  after  a  careful  search 
through  the  pages  of  the  Koran. 

In  regard  to  these  brief  but  vital  spiritual  utterances,  it 
must  .be  acknowledged  that,  though  they  are  plainly  the 
cries  of  a  soul  in  touch  with  the  great  realities,  and  though 
they  often  ring  true  to  universal  experience,  when  con- 
trasted with  similar  passages  found  in  the  Bible  they  not 
only  fall  short  in  range,  depth,  and  intensity,  but  they  lack 
in  glow,  in  tender  comfort,  and  in  the  inspiring  practical 
suggestion  and  persuasiveness  that  accompany  sustained 
argument.  Thus  no  distant  parallel  can  be  found  to  the 
one  hundred  and  third  Psalm,  or  to  the  fortieth  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  or  to  the  eighth  of  Romans,  to  name,  out  of  scores, 
examples  that  first  suggest  themselves.  It  is,  however,  the 
inestimable  good  fortune  of  Moslems  in  Syria  and  Palestine 
to  have  an  access  to  such  passages  that  is  withheld  from  their 
brethren  in  other  parts  of  Turkey,  as  the  circulation  of  the 
Koran,  except  in  Arabic,  is  forbidden  in  the  empire.  To 
the  majority  of  Turkish  subjects  the  Koran  is  practically  a 
closed  book,  opened  for  them  by  their  teachers  only  on 
formal  occasions.1  In  the  Holy  Land  the  Moslems  may 
study  their  Scriptures  in  their  mother  tongue,  at  home  or  in 
the  mosque,  where,  as  we  shall  see,  copies  are  sometimes 
kept  for  the  especial  use  of  the  public  in  the  fast  month  of 
Ramadhan. 

In  studying  the  Koran,  it  should  be  constantly  kept  in 
mind  that  for  much  that  is  taught  and  practised  in  Islam 
to-day  we  would  search  through  it  in  vain.  Islam  is  a  the- 
ocracy, and  theoretically  the  Koran,  as  the  word  of  God,  is 
both  source  and  arbiter  of  all  questions,  relating  not  only 
to  theology  and  to  practical  religion,  but  also  to  matters 
of  jurisprudence.  For  the  Sha'ri  a,  or  Mohammedan  law, 
like  the  Pentateuch,  knows  no  distinction  between  matters 

1  In  India  a  number  of  translations  into  different  languages  are  in 
daily  use. 


176  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

sacred  and  secular.  But  as  the  Jewish  Pentateuch  was 
overlaid  by  the  Talmud,  so  the  Mohammedan  law  has 
practically  buried  the  teaching  of  the  Koran  under  the 
traditions  of  the  prophet  and  the  decisions  of  the  'Ulama 
or  learned.  Christianity  has  not  escaped  a  similar  tendency, 
for  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  has  often  been 
weighted  down,  and  has  at  times  been  obscured  by  elabo- 
rate theological  systems.  The  traditions  of  Mohammed,  re- 
cording what  he  said,  what  he  did,  and  what  he  permitted 
to  be  done  in  his  presence,  have  come  to  possess  an  infalli- 
ble authority,  practically  equal  to  that  of  the  Koran,  while, 
unlike  the  Koran,  they  touch  on  the  minutest  matters  of 
ceremonial  and  practice,  thus  exercising  this  authority  in  a 
realm  immensely  wider.1  Belief  in  the  universality  of  their 
binding  power  is  largely  responsible  for  the  rigidity  and 
formality  of  the  Mohammedan  religion.  Lord  Cromer  has 
acutely  said:  "Islam,  speaking  not  so  much  through  the 
Koran  as  through  the  traditions  that  cluster  around  the 
Koran,  crystallizes  religion  and  law  into  one  inseparable 
and  immutable  whole,  with  the  result  that  all  elasticity  is 
taken  away  from  the  social  system."  2 

Mohammed  prophesied  that  Islam  would  be  divided  into 
seventy-three  sects,  every  one  of  which  was  destined  for  hell 
but  that  one  which  represented  the  religion  of  himself  and 
his  companions.  The  number  named  in  the  prophecy  has 
been  far  exceeded,  as  'Abd-el-Qa'dir  ej-Jila'ni  estimated  in 
the  twelfth  century  that  there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty. 
Each  sect  naturally  believes  that  it  alone  is  following  the 
religion  of  the  prophet  and  of  his  companions,  thus  consti- 
tuting the  Na'jiyeh,  or  "  those  who  are  being  saved."  The 
outside  world,  however,  takes  cognizance  only  of  the  two 
main  divisions  into  Sunni  and  Shi'ah,  based  on  different 
views  of  the  nature  and  personnel  of  the  caliphate.  The 
Sunnis  overwhelmingly  predominate.  The  Shi'ahs  are 
mainly  confined  to  Persia,  where  they  are  in  the  majority, 
with  a  few  thousand  in  India,  also  in  Syria,  where  they  are 
popularly  known  as  Meta'wileh.  The  entire  population  of 

1  Compare  with  p.  194. 

2  "Modern  Egypt,"  vol.  II,  pp.  134-135. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  177 

Syria  and  Palestine  is  approximately  three  and  a  quarter 
millions;  of  these  about  one  million  nine  hundred  thousand 
are  Moslems.  The  present  chapter  deals  with  the  practice 
of  the  Orthodox,  or  Sunnis,  leaving  the  presentation  of  the 
Shi'ah  variations  for  the  sixth  chapter. 

I.    CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED 

The  world  of  Islam  is  supported  by  five  pillars  of  practical 
religion:  Witness  to  the  creed,  prayer,  fasting,  alms,  and 
pilgrimage.1  The  practice  of  these  ordinances  is  enjoined 
by  the  Koran,  which,  however,  does  not  lay  down  the 
method  of  observance  with  the  detail  characterizing  the 
later  development  of  the  ritual.  No  stream  can  rise  higher 
than  its  source.  It  is  equally  true  that  every  stream  falls 
below  the  level  of  its  source.  All  large  streams,  moreover, 
are  joined  by  confluent  streams,  by  other  waters  that  give 
a  new  color,  a  new  quality  to  the  parent  stream.  Islam  as 
practised  to-day  is  based,  as  we  have  seen,  not  only  on  the 
Koran,  but  also  on  the  traditions  of  Mohammed,  both 
interpreted  by  the  decisions  of  the  learned.2  These  tribu- 
taries have  not  only  enormously  increased  the  volume  of 
the  waters,  but  have  affected  their  nature.  In  gazing  at 
the  turbid  stream  of  Islam  to-day,  we  must  not  forget  the 
freshness  and  sparkle  of  the  fountain  that  burst  from  the 
deserts  of  Arabia  in  the  seventh  century.  A  few  prelim- 
inary words,  then,  concerning  the  Koran,  which  is  for  all 
Moslems,  at  least  in  theory,  their  final  source  of  authority 
will  be  in  place.3 

1  This  is  the  list  of  the  Sunnis.     That  of  the  Shi'ahs  omits  the  first 
item  as  belonging  rather  to  the  list  of  beliefs,  substituting  for  it  (in 
the  fifth  place)  the  jihad,  or  holy  war. 

2  For  the  influence  of  the  traditions  on  Moslem  jurisprudence,  see 
foot-note  to  p.  194. 

3  The  Koran  is  divided  into  one  hundred  and  fourteen  chapters,  called 
surahs,  revealed  piecemeal  during  a  period  covering  twenty-three  years. 
The  surahs  are  subdivided  into  verses,  called  ayat.     Each  surah  is 
named,  more  or  less  arbitrarily,  from  some  word  contained  in  its  text. 
Equally  arbitrary  was  the  early  arrangement — never  altered  by  Mos- 
lems— effected  by  placing  the  longer  surahs  first,  the  shorter  last,  and 


178  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

Islam  is  emphatically  a  book  religion,  and  for  the  Mos- 
lem this  book  contains  naught  but  the  very  words  of  God, 
revealed,  indeed,  to  Mohammed  through  the  Angel  Gabriel, 
but  written  before  time  began  in  the  "  Mother  of  the  Book," 
which  lies  open  before  the  throne  of  heaven.  The  words 
throughout  are  uttered  in  the  first  person:  God  is  the 
speaker,  and  Mohammed  is  the  one  addressed.1  No  the- 
ory of  inspiration  could  be  more  mechanical.  Moham- 
med, so  holds  Islam,  was  but  the  vehicle  of  divine  truth. 
For  followers  of  other  religions  this  theory,  as  applied  to 

by  prefixing  to  the  collection  the  opening  prayer,  or  fat'hah.  Each 
surah  has  prefixed  to  it  the  name  of  the  place,  Mecca  or  Medinah, 
where  it  was  revealed,  but  verses  plainly  composed  at  one  place  are 
sometimes  inserted  in  surahs  marked  with  the  name  of  the  other. 
No  exact  chronology,  thus,  has  been  preserved,  and  an  approximately 
correct  succession  can  only  be  inferred  by  the  references  to  passing 
events  and  by  a  study  of  the  style  of  composition.  As  a  working  hy- 
pothesis, Noldeke's  chronology  is  now  widely  accepted.  (See  Palmer's 
Introduction  to  his  "Translation  of  the  Koran,"  p.  Ixiv.)  This  writer 
recognizes  not  only  the  two  general  classes  of  surahs,  separated  by 
the  Hegira,  or  flight  to  Medinah,  but  he  subdivides  the  Meccan  surahs 
into  three  parts,  in  all  of  which  Mohammed  appears  as  prophet.  In 
the  first  Meccan  period  he  teaches  the  unity  of  God  in  a  series  of  rhe- 
torical outbursts,  with  the  rhyme  but  without  the  rhythm  of  poetry, 
appealing  to  the  feelings  rather  than  to  the  reason.  The  surahs  of  the 
second  period,  couched  in  more  prosaic  language,  are  characterized  by 
long-winded  and  tediously  reiterated  stories  (borrowed  from  the  Jew- 
ish haggadah)  telling  of  the  rejection  of  the  prophets  of  old  by  unbe- 
lieving generations,  with  the  plain  moral  that  the  rejection  of  Moham- 
med would  inevitably  result  in  the  same  punishment.  The  surahs  of 
the  third  Meccan  period  are  even  less  interesting  in  style  and  contain 
little  new  material.  In  the  Medinah  surahs,  Mohammed  appears  as 
the  law-giver.  The  style  is  usually  dull,  but  its  almost  plain  prose  is 
relieved  by  a  few  of  the  old  passages  of  power  and  beauty.  (See  the 
admirable  analysis  of  Stanley  Lane  Poole,  in  his  "Studies  in  a  Mosque," 
pp.  157-160.)  The  legal  sections,  contained  almost  entirely  in  surahs 
II,  IV,  and  V  (amounting  to  about  one-tenth  of  the  Koran),  do  not 
constitute  a  systematic  code  of  jurisprudence.  The  legislation,  often 
arising  from  concrete  cases,  is  practical  rather  than  theoretical;  at  the 
same  time  it  is  general  rather  than  particular.  It  forms  but  the  basis 
of  the  complicated  law  and  ritual  which  the  development  of  Islam 
has  built  upon  it.  For  the  contradictions  and  inconsistencies  the  book 
contains,  see  p.  189. 

1  The  fat 'hah,  or  opening  prayer,  is  an  exception. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  179 

the  Koran,  is,  of  course,  untenable.  But  in  repudiating 
this  theory  we  must  not  fly  to  the  other  extreme.  It  is 
often  hastily  assumed  that  the  only  alternative  is  to  call 
Mohammed  an  impostor.  Those  who  would  thus  argue 
not  only  misread  history,  they  misread  psychology.  That 
this  great  religious  genius  believed  himself  to  be  inspired 
by  God,  when  he  gave  utterance  to  the  early  surahs,  I  take 
for  granted,  just  as  I  take  for  granted  that  Joan  of  Arc  be- 
lieved in  the  reality  of  her  visions.  If  the  doubter  ask  for 
proof,  let  him  read  these  surahs  in  a  humble  spirit.  For 
this  earliest  portion  of  the  Koran  rings  with  conviction, 
with  authority.  It  is  full  of  life  and  movement  and  poetry. 
It  is,  as  Stanley  Lane  Poole  calls  it,  "  one  long  blazonry  of 
nature's  beauty."  The  main  theme  is  the  same  with  the 
Psalmist's:  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
firmament  showeth  his  handiwork. 

"  By  the  sun  and  its  noon-day  brightness ! 
And  the  moon  when  it  follows  Him! 
And  the  day  when  it  displays  Him! 
And  the  night  when  it  covers  Him! 
And  the  Heaven  and  what  built  it  I 
And  the  earth  and  what  spread  it! 
And  the  soul  and  what  fashioned  it, 
And  taught  it  its  sin  and  its  piety  I 
Prosperous  is  he  who  purifies  it  I 
And  disappointed  is  he  who  corrupts  it!"1 

But  the  genuine  spirit  of  these  early  surahs  is  evinced 
not  only  by  such  spontaneous  outbursts,  recognizing  God 
in  nature.  Listen  to  the  following  short  surah,  uttered  dur- 
ing the  lonely  days  of  the  prophet's  early  struggle: 

"  By  the  splendor  of  the  morning, 
And  the  still  of  the  night ! 

The  Lord  hath  not  forsaken  thee  nor  hated  thee ! 
And  the  future  shall  surely  be  better  than  the  present, 
And  the  Lord  will  surely  give  to  thee  and  thou  shalt  be 
well  pleased. 

1  Surah  XCI,  1-10.  When  not  otherwise  stated,  we  follow  Palmer's 
translation.  (See  "Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  vol.  VI.) 


180  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

Did  he  not  find  thee  an  orphan  and  sheltered  thee  ? 

And  found  thee  erring  and  guided  thee? 

And  found  thee  poor  and  enriched  thee? 

Then  as  for  the  orphan  oppress  him  not, 

And  for  him  who  asketh  of  thee,  chide  him  not  away, 

And  for  the  bounty  of  thy  Lord,  tell  of  it."1 

Here  are  no  words  of  a  self-conscious  impostor,  but  rather 
of  one  convinced  of  the  truth  of  his  message  and  of  the 
divine  care  enfolding  the  messenger,  rejected  by  his  own 
people. 

In  regard  to  Mohammed's  belief  in  the  divine  inspira- 
tion of  all  that  is  contained  in  the  later  surahs  of  the  Ko- 
ran, especially  of  those  composed  at  Medinah,  when  the 
growing  triumph  of  Islam  added  to  his  role  of  prophet  those 
of  law-giver  and  ruler,  we  can  speak  with  less  confidence. 
This  confidence  almost  vanishes  in  the  case  of  the  conven- 
ient "revelations"  scattered  through  surah  XXXIII  touch- 
ing the  prophet's  private  life.  Among  these  is  included  a 
list  of  marriages  which  he  may  contract,  terminating  with 
the  phrase,  "A  special  privilege  this  for  thee  above  all 
other  believers"  (verse  49).  Criticism  of  his  marriage 
with  the  divorced  wife  of  his  adopted  son  Zaid  was  si- 
lenced by  a  revelation  legalizing  the  union  (verses  37-38). 
There  are  other  instances,  where  the  exact  allusion  is  ob- 
scure, whose  object  is  clearly  to  guard  the  prophet's  com- 
fort or  his  reputation.2  All  such  passages,  whatever  their 

1  Surah  XVIII.     Translation  by  Stanley  Lane  Poole. 

2  It  may  be  conceded  that  this  especial  legislation  is  announced  with 
quaint  simplicity.     According  to  Palmer's  interpretation  of  verse  53, 
the  believers  are  warned  not  to  hint  for  an  invitation  to  dine  with 
the  prophet  by  following  the  Arab  custom  of  sitting  around  the  tent 
watching  for  the  pot  to  boil.     Earlier  in  the  surah,  verses  27  and  28, 
Allah  is  represented  as  commanding  Mohammed,  who,  it  is  alleged,  has 
been  annoyed  by  his  wives'  demands  for  new  dresses,  to  give  them  the 
choice  between  divorce  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  contentment 
with  what  they  have  here,  plus  the  promise  of  reward  in  the  hereafter. 
The  chapter  of  the  Prohibition  (surah  LXVI)  contains,  without  doubt, 
a  rebuke  to  the  women  of  Mohammed's  household.     Palmer  follows 
the  commentators,  who  link  it  with  a  squalid  story  of  jealousy  of  the 
Coptic  maiden  Mary,  on  the  part  of  'Ayeshah  and  Hafsah.     This  is 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  181 

interpretation,  are  doubtless  blots  on  the  Koran,  but  they 
do  not,  it  seems  to  me,  justify  the  use  of  the  crude  title  im- 
postor. Mohammed  was  at  first  intensely  conscious  of  be- 
ing human.  In  the  Mecca  surahs  he  stoutly  combats  any 
contrary  view:  "  I  am  but  a  mortal  like  yourselves,  I  am  in- 
spired to  announce  that  your  God  is  one  God."  1  "  I  am  not 
an  innovator  among  the  Apostles;  nor  do  I  know  what  will 
be  done  with  me  or  with  you  if  I  follow  aught  but  what  I  am 
inspired  with;  nor  am  I  aught  but  a  plain  warner."  2  As 
an  offset  to  the  favorable  especial  legislation  of  later  years, 
we  find  a  rebuke  to  the  prophet,  especially  revealed  at 
Mecca,  for  his  impatience  with  a  blind  man.3  Even  in  a 
later  Medinah  surah  "his  early  and  his  later  sin  are 
acknowledged  as  needing  pardon."4  On  the  other  hand, 
as  regards  his  office  as  prophet  and  legislator  he  came  to 
have  a  most  exalted  idea:  "Whoso  obeys  the  prophet,  he 
obeys  God!"  5  he  cries.  "Verily  those  who  disbelieve  God 
and  his  Apostles  desire  to  make  a  distinction  between  God 
and  his  Apostles,  and  say,  *  We  believe  in  part  and  disbelieve 
in  part,  and  desire  to  take  a  midway  course  between  the 
two';  these  are  the  misbelievers,  and  we  have  prepared  for 
the  misbelievers'  shameful  woe!"  Thus  in  later  years  a 
subtle  change  came  over  the  prophet  of  Arabia.  When  the 
first  glory  of  his  visions  had  faded;  when  for  the  ennobling 
victory  of  the  idea  was  substituted  the  demoralizing  victory 
of  the  sword;  when  perplexing  questions  of  legislation  de- 
manded an  immediate  decision  that  could  not  wait  on  in- 
spiration ;  when  through  his  own  personal  conduct,  or  rather 
misconduct,  the  invasion  of  his  personal  prestige,  so  subtly 
identified  with  the  prestige  of  the  cause,  was  threatened; 
then,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  a  temptation  came  to 

pronounced  "absolutely  false  and  malicious"  by  Ameer  Ali,  Syed,  the 
modernist  of  Islam,  who  sees  in  the  surah  no  more  than  a  reference  to 
the  remorse  of  the  prophet  at  yielding  to  his  wives'  request  that  he 
give  up  the  eating  of  honey,  thus  repudiating  a  good  gift  of  God. 
Ameer  Ali  also  takes  a  more  lenient  view  of  Mohammed's  much  crit- 
icised conduct  in  the  matter  of  the  divorced  wife  of  Zaid.  (See  "The 
Spirit  of  Islam,"  op.  cit.,  p.  195.) 

1  XLI,  5.  2  XLVI,  8.  3  LXXX. 

4  XLVIII,  2.  5 IV,  82.  6 IV,  149-150. 


182  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

this  unlettered  cameleer  raised  to  royal  power,  a  temptation 
to  live  up  to  his  profession  of  prophet  at  any  cost,  a  tempta- 
tion to  fuse  his  conception  of  Mohammed  the  erring  mortal, 
with  Mohammed  the  mouth-piece  of  the  Almighty,  or,  in 
other  words,  a  temptation  to  confound  the  will  of  God  with 
the  will  of  Mohammed.  And  to  this  temptation  he  yielded. 

A  sacred  book  may  be  fairly  judged  by  its  conception  of 
God.  The  Koran  has  but  one  great  message — a  message 
about  God.  Mohammed's  glory  was  the  recovery  of  the 
monotheistic  idea  and  its  enthronement  in  the  southern 
Semitic  world.  He  claimed  to  announce  no  discoveries 
in  theology.  He  bade  the  idolatrous  pagan  tribes,  as  well 
as  the  semi-pagan  Christians,  of  Arabia  look  back  to  Abra- 
ham, to  Abraham  the  Hanlf  (that  is,  "inclined"  to  the  true 
religion),  who  contended  for  the  worship  of  the  one  true 
God  against  a  heathen  generation.  He  pointed  to  the  other 
prophets  and  showed  how  disregard  of  their  warnings  had 
ever  resulted  in  confusion  to  the  unbeliever.  He  declared 
the  signs  of  God  in  nature,  animate  and  inanimate,  outlin- 
ing, in  poetical  form,  the  argument  from  design.1  He 
preached  Islam — self-surrender  to  the  will  of  God — thus 
defining  the  Moslem  simply  as  the  man  who  is  resigned.2 
He  rehearsed  the  divine  attributes,  singly  and  in  groups, 
so  that  from  the  Koran  most  of  the  ninety-nine  beautiful 
names  of  Allah,  so  often  repeated  by  the  pious  Moslem, 
may  be  culled. 

At  this  point  we  are  led  back  to  the  first  of  the  five  pillars 
of  Islam,  the  confession  of  the  creed:  I  testify  that  there  is 
no  God  but  God,  and  that  Mohammed  is  the  apostle  of 
God.  This  shortest  creed  in  the  world  is  called  the  kal'- 
imah,  or  word.  It  sets  forth  in  splendid  brevity  the  kernel 
of  the  Moslem  faith:  the  unity  of  God  as  revealed  by  the 
seal  of  the  prophets.  It  is  cried  five  times  a  day  from  every 

1  For  a  good  example,  see  surah  VI,  95-99. 

2  Compare  surah  LI,  35,  "And  we  sent  therefrom  [i.  e.,  Sodom]  such 
as  were  in  it  of  the  believers;  but  we  found  only  one  house  of  Moslems." 
All  the  prophets  from  the  time  of  Abraham  are  held  to  have  been 
Moslems. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  183 

minaret;  it  is  repeated  in  every  formal  prayer;  it  is  inscribed 
on  banners  and  door-posts;  it  is  used  for  the  comfort  of  the 
dying.  This  confession  must  be  made  aloud  by  every  con- 
vert. Indeed,  it  is  said  that  the  idle  repetition  of  the  words 
by  a  Christian,  in  the  presence  of  ignorant  Moslems,  may 
put  him  in  danger  of  an  enforced  circumcision.  Unequiv- 
ocal adhesion  is  thus  constantly  testified  by  the  Moslem  to 
the  doctrine  of  one  God.  We  can  have  no  real  notion,  how- 
ever, of  the  qualities  which  he  attributes  to  this  one  God 
without  a  study  of  the  Koran.  This  reveals  a  conception 
of  Allah  similar,  in  many  respects,  to  the  conception  of  Je- 
hovah, held  by  the  Israelites  of  the  great  prophetic  period, 
but  also  with  differences  covering  matters  of  vital  impor- 
tance. For  both,  God,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  is  omni- 
present, omnipotent,  jealous  of  worship  due  to  him,  venge- 
ful on  wrong-doers,  gracious  and  compassionate  to  those 
who  fear  him.  There  is  little  in  the  following  descriptions 
of  the  Koran  that  might  not  have  been  uttered  by  a  Hebrew 
prophet: 

"  He  is  God  than  whom  there  is  no  God,  who  knows  the  un- 
seen and  the  visible.  He  is  the  merciful  and  compassionate! 
He  is  God  than  whom  there  is  no  God,  the  King,  the  Holy, 
the  Peacegiver,  the  Faithful,  the  Protector,  the  Mighty, 
the  Repairer,  the  Great! — He  is  God,  the  Creator,  the 
Maker,  the  Fashioner;  His  are  the  excellent  names!  His 
praises  whatever  are  in  the  heavens  and  in  the  earth  do 
celebrate;  for  God  is  the  mighty,  the  wise!"  1  "  God,  there 
is  no  God  but  he,  the  living,  the  self-subsistent.  Slumber 
takes  him  not,  nor  sleep.  His  is  what  is  in  the  heavens,  and 
what  is  in  the  earth.  Who  is  it  that  intercedes  with  him 
save  by  his  permission  ?  He  knows  what  is  before,  and  what 
is  behind  them,  and  they  comprehend  naught  of  his  knowl- 
edge, but  of  what  he  pleases.  His  throne  extends  over  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  and  it  tires  him  not  to  guard  them 
both,  for  he  is  high  and  grand." 2 

The  important  difference  between  the  Jewish  idea  of  God 

1  Surah  LIX,  22-24. 

2 II,  256.  This  is  the  celebrated  "Verse  of  the  Throne,"  found  often 
inscribed  on  mosques. 


184  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

and  the  conception  of  Islam  involves  a  question  of  emphasis 
and  a  question  of  omission.1  First,  then,  for  the  emphasis. 
In  striking  contrast  to  the  main  trend  of  its  teaching  the  Old 
Testament  contains  a  few  passages  in  regard  to  God  in  which 
predestination  appears  to  shade  into  fatalism.  Among  these 
are  the  oft-repeated  phrases  in  Exodus:  "I  will  harden 
Pharaoh's  heart,"  "The  Lord  hardened  Pharaoh's  heart," 
which  alternate  with  the  expression:  "And  Pharaoh  har- 
dened his  heart."  Saint  Paul  echoes  this  doctrine  in  his 
letter  to  the  Romans :  "  Therefore  he  hath  mercy  on  whom 
he  will  have  mercy,  and  whom  he  will  he  hardeneth."  2 
Similar  passages,  however,  are  very  much  more  frequent 
in  the  Koran.  Whereas  in  the  Bible  they  are  exceptional, 
in  the  Koran  they  are  fundamental.  They  cast  a  dark 
shadow  over  many  of  its  pages.  Over  and  over  again  oc- 
curs the  terrible  expression:  "God  leads  astray."  Many 
passages  are  unqualified.  "He  whom  God  leads  astray 
there  is  no  guide  for  him!  He  leaves  them  in  their  rebel- 
lion blindly  wandering  on."  3  "  But  whomsoever  God  doth 
lead  astray  thou  shalt  not  find  for  him  a  way."  4  "  But  he 
whom  God  wishes  to  mislead  thou  canst  do  nothing  with 
God  for  him:  these  are  those  whose  heart  he  wishes  not 
to  purify,  for  them  in  this  world  is  disgrace,  and  for  them  in 
the  next  is  mighty  woe."  5  With  this  class  of  passages  belong 
the  following:  "It  is  not  for  any  person  to  believe  save  by 
the  permission  of  God:  he  puts  horror  on  those  who  have 
no  sense."  6  "  We  have  created  for  hell  many  of  the  jinn 
and  of  mankind,  etc."  7  But  as  we  may  balance  one  bibli- 
cal teaching  by  another,  even  more,  in  dealing  with  the 
Koran,  the  work  of  a  single  individual,  may  we  permit  it 
to  interpret  itself.  For  such  noxious  passages  as  those  just 
quoted  the  Koran  itself  at  least  suggests  an  antidote.  Over 

1  The  Koran  recognizes  the  inspiration  of  the  Zabur'  (the  Psalms) 
and  of  the  Taurat'  (the  Law),  as  well  as  of  the  Injil'  (the  Gospel), 
though  the  Moslems  hold  that  the  text  of  the  two  latter  has  been  cor- 
rupted.    There  appears  to  be  but  one  direct  quotation  from  the  Bible 
in  the  Koran,  and  that  is  from  Psalm  37: 39. 

2  Romans  9  : 18.  3  Surah  VII,  185.  4 IV,  142. 

5  V,  46.  6  X,  100.  7  VII,  177-178. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  185 

against  their  grim  fatalism  may  be  placed  the  reasonableness 
of  the  following:  "He  leads  astray  only  the  evil-doers,"1 
"  God  would  not  have  wronged  them  but  it  was  themselves 
they  wronged." 2  "  Verily  God  guides  not  him  who  is  a  mis- 
believing Tear."3  "Hast  thou  considered  him  who  takes 
his  lusts  for  his  God,  and  God  leads  him  astray  wittingly, 
and  has  set  a  seal  upon  his  hearing  and  his  heart,  and  has 
placed  upon  his  eyesight  dimness?  Who  then  shall  guide 
him  after  God  ?  "  May  we  not  compare  this  passage  with 
the  sane  words  of  James  ?  "  Let  no  man  say  when  he  is 
tempted,  I  am  tempted  of  God;  for  God  cannot  be  tempted 
of  evil,  neither  tempteth  he  any  man;  but  every  man  is 
tempted,  when  he  is  drawn  away  of  his  own  lust  and  en- 
ticed. "  5  At  any  rate,  in  these  last-quoted  passages  from 
the  Koran,  Mohammed  appears,  if  only  in  temporary  re- 
coil from  a  bald  fatalism,  to  be  groping  after  something 
that  may  harmonize  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  decree  with 
that  of  man's  responsibility. 

So  much  for  the  question  of  emphasis.  The  question 
of  omission  is  even  more  grave,  for  it  involves  the  loss  of  the 
very  doctrine  which  in  the  Bible  softens  its  own  stern  teach- 
ing regarding  the  divine  decrees.  The  fundamental  doc- 
trine of  the  fatherhood  of  God  in  relation  to  man,  amply 
illustrated  in  the  prophetic  period  of  the  Old  Testament,  the 
central  idea  of  the  New  Testament,  is  explicitly  excluded 
from  the  teaching  of  the  Koran.  "But  the  Jews  and  the 
Christians  say,  'We  are  the  sons  of  God  and  his  beloved!' 
Say,  '  Why  then  does  he  punish  you  for  your  sins  ?  Nay, 
ye  are  mortals  of  those  whom  he  has  created ! ' " 6  This 
denial  naturally  follows  on  the  denial  of  the  sonship  of  Jesus 
which  is  often  and  sometimes  passionately  made  in  the  Ko- 
ran.7 The  prophet  of  Arabia  was  unable  to  rise  to  a  spiritual 

1 II,  24.  This  occurs  as  an  explanation  to  an  actual  objection  to  the 
doctrine. 

2  XXIX,  39.  3  XXXIX,  5.  *  XLV,  522. 

5  James  1  : 13,  14.  6  Surah  V,  21. 

7  The  scattered  notices  of  the  Koran  in  regard  to  Jesus  have  been 
systematized  by  Hughes  in  his  "Dictionary  of  Islam. "  We  here  present 
his  brief  summing  up  with  our  own  additions  in  brackets.  "  It  will  be 
seen  that  Mohammed  taught  that  Jesus  was  miraculously  born  of  the 


186  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

conception  of  the  words  father,  son.  The  nomenclature 
connoted  for  him  a  physical  relationship,  amounting  to  a 
taint,  which  he  could  not  disassociate  from  the  Christian 
doctrine.  "  How  can  he  have  a  son  when  he  has  no  female 


Virgin  Mary,  who  was  sister  of  Aaron  and  the  daughter  of  'Imran. 
[This  is  one  specimen  of  the  extraordinary  ignorance  of  chronology 
shown  by  Mohammed.]  That  the  Jews  charged  the  Virgin  with  being 
unchaste;  but  the  Babe,  speaking  in  his  cradle,  vindicated  his  mother's 
honor.  That  Jesus  performed  miracles,  giving  life  to  a  clay  figure  of  a 
bird,  healing  the  blind,  curing  the  leper,  quickening  the  dead,  and 
bringing  down  a  table  from  heaven  "as  a  festival  and  a  sign."  [This 
is  possibly  a  reference  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.]  That 
he  [Jesus]  was  especially  commissioned  as  the  apostle  or  prophet  of 
God  to  confirm  the  law  and  to  reveal  the  gospel.  That  he  proclaimed 
his  mission  with  many  manifest  signs,  being  strengthened  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  [Moslem  commentators  interpret  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  title  of 
the  Angel  Gabriel,  through  whom  the  Koran  was  revealed.]  That  he 
foretold  the  advent  of  another  prophet,  whose  name  should  be  Anmed. 
[Arab  commentators  see  here  a  prophecy  of  the  mission  of  Mohammed, 
whose  name  is  equivalent  in  meaning  to  Ahmed,  and  signifies  "the 
praised."  The  reference  is  to  the  promise  of  the  paraclete  in  John 
16  : 7,  where,  so  it  is  held,  the  word  TrapdfcX^ros  has  been  substituted 
for  irepiK\f)T6s.]  That  the  Jews  intended  to  crucify  him,  but  God  de- 
ceived them,  for  they  did  not  crucify  Jesus,  but  only  his  likeness. 
[See  surah  IV,  156.  "God  took  him'  up  into  heaven."  Commentators 
differ  as  to  who  was  crucified  in  his  place,  even  Judas  being  suggested; 
others  say  it  was  a  spy  sent  to  entrap  him,  etc.]  That  he  is  now  in  one 
of  the  stages  of  celestial  bliss.  That  after  he  left  this  earth  his  disciples 
disputed  among  themselves,  some  calling  him  a  God,  and  making  him 
one  of  a  trinity  of  the  "Father,  the  Mother,  and  the  Son."  [See  surah 
V,  116:  "And  when  God  said,  'O  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary,  is  it  thou  who 
didst  say  to  men,  Take  me  and  my  mother  for  two  Gods  beside  God'?" 
This  charge  is  vehemently  denied  in  the  reply  of  Jesus.]  That  he  will 
come  again  at  the  last  day,  and  will  slay  antichrist,  kill  all  the  swine, 
break  the  cross,  remove  the  poll-tax  from  the  infidels.  That  he  will 
reign  as  a  just  king  for  forty-five  years,  marry,  and  have  children,  and 
die  and  be  buried  near  Mohammed  at  Al-Madinah,  between  the  graves 
of  Abu-Bekr  and  'Umar." 

From  this  summary  it  will  be  seen  that  Jesus  occupies  an  exalted 
place  in  Moslem  teaching.  However,  he  is  of  little  or  no  practical  ac- 
count to  the  ordinary  Moslem  to-day.  The  Gospels  are  practically- 
ignored.  In  Palestine  even  Abraham  seems  to  occupy  a  more  promi- 
nent position  in  the  peasant  consciousness,  while  Mohammed,  as  the 
seal  of  the  prophets,  usurps  almost  all  of  the  honor  and  attention  due 
to  his  predecessors.  The  cult  of  local  saints  is  very  strong. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  187 

companion  and  when  he  has  created  everything  and  every- 
thing he  knows  ? "  *  "They  say, ' The  Merciful  has  taken  to 
Himself  a  son*;  ye  have  brought  a  monstrous  thing!  The 
heavens  wellnigh  burst  asunder  thereat,  and  the  earth  is 
riven,  and  the  mountains  fall  down  broken,  that  they  attrib- 
ute to  the  Merciful  a  son!  there  is  none  in  the  heavens  or 
in  the  earth  but  comes  to  the  Merciful  as  a  servant."  2  To 
the  Moslem  of  to-day  the  affirmation  of  the  divine  pater- 
nity, in  any  form,  is  equally  repugnant.  "  We  are  all  God's 
children,"  I  once  said  in  attempted  consolation  of  a  noble 
old  man  who  had  met  with  a  loss  in  his  family — the  family,  I 
may  add,  of  Khaled,  the  sword  of  God,  who  conquered 
Syria  for  Islam.  "No,"  he  gently  reprimanded  me,  "not 
God's  children:  God's  servants — God's  slaves." 

The  names  Son  of  God,  sons  of  God,  thus,  were  emphati- 
cally rejected  by  Mohammed.  But  it  is  fair  to  ask  whether 
he  was  merely  obsessed  or  hypnotized  by  nomenclature. 
Did  he  indicate  a  filial  relationship  indirectly  under  other 
terms?  For  the  idea  is  expressed  in  the  Old  Testament 
indirectly  as  well  as  directly.  Note,  for  example,  the  ex- 
quisite metaphor  in  the  Song  of  Moses:  "As  an  eagle 
stirreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreadeth 
abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her  wings,  so 
the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and  there  was  no  strange  God 
with  him."  3  To  such  tender  words  as  these  I  am  bound  to 
say  I  can  find  no  parallel  in  the  Koran.  Allah  is  indeed  the 
Merciful,  the  Compassionate,  the  Faithful,  the  Forgiver, 
the  Guardian,  the  Guide,  the  Patient,  an  Excellent  Help, 
but  these  titles  are  not  the  exclusive  attributes  of  fatherhood 
they  may  belong  to  sovereign,  master,  teacher  as  well.  In 
one  passage  God  is  termed  the  Loving,4  but  the  idea  is  in 
general  subordinated  to  other  conceptions.  Here  are  some 
instances:  "God  loves  the  kind."  5  "God  loves  those  who 
fear."  6  "  Verily  to  those  who  believe  and  act  aright,  verily 
the  Merciful  will  give  love."7  "  Verily  God  loves  the  just."8 

1  Surah  VI,  101;  compare  XVII,  42.  2  Surah  XIX,  91-93. 

3  Deut.  32  : 11  and  12.  «  Surah  LXXXV,  14. 

6  III,  128.  6  IX,  4. 

7  XIX,  96.  8  XL,  9. 


188  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

"Verily  God  loves  those  who  fight  in  his  cause."  l  Light 
these  passages  surely  cast,  but  it  pales  before  the  glow  of 
the  Old  Testament  words:  "Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his 
children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him."  2  It  pales 
before  the  fire  and  splendor  of  the  New  Testament  words: 
"  For  I  am  persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things 
to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 3  And  again,  "  But  God  com- 
mended his  love  toward  us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners 
Christ  died  for  us."  4 

These  last-quoted  words  suggest  one  of  the  chief  differ- 
ences between  the  Bible  and  the  Koran.  This  difference 
is  in  the  treatment  of  sin.  Pardon  for  sin  repented  of, 
punishment  for  sin  persisted  in,  the  Koran  constantly  re- 
iterates, but  the  deep,  inward  experiences  of  the  fifty-first 
Psalm,  of  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans,  are  nowhere 
approximated.  We  hear  nowhere  of  a  broken  heart,  of  a 
contrite  spirit.  We  miss  not  only  the  sense  of  defilement, 
the  sighs  of  anguish,  but  the  joy  of  redemption,  the  ec- 
stasy of  relief.  If  we  find  nothing  like  the  confession: 
"Against  Thee,  Thee  only,  have  I  sinned,"5  we  miss 
also  the  jubilant  cry:  "He  hath  put  a  new  song  in  my 
mouth."  6 

In  a  conception  of  God  which  denies  fatherhood,  and  in 
which  love  is  subordinated  to  power,  the  relation  between 
God  and  man  will  naturally  lack  the  tender  intimacy  in- 
volved in  the  conception  which  regards  God  as  Father  and 
God  as  Love.  This  relationship,  however,  may  be  both 
strong  and  vital.  Both  strength  and  vitality  I  find  in  the 
Koran's  conception,  and  the  fruits  thereof  in  the  lives  of 
the  best  Moslems.  Here  I  find  myself  in  disagreement  with 
the  sweeping  generalizations  of  Dr.  Zwemer  and  the  school 
of  criticism  that  he  represents.  "God  stands  aloof  from 
his  creation,"  he  writes;  "only  his  power  is  felt,  men  are 


1  Surah  LX,  4.  2  Psalm  103  : 13.  3  Romans  8  :  38  and  39. 

4  Romans  5:8.          5  Psalm  60  :  8.  6  Psalm  40  :  3. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  189 

like  the  pieces  on  a  chessboard,  and  he  is  the  only  player." 1 
In  reading  the  Koran  it  should  be  constantly  remembered 
that  it  contains  both  inconsistencies  and  contradictions. 
Certain  fatalistic  passages  which  support  Zwemer's  con- 
tention have  already  been  quoted,  but  the  very  inconsist- 
ent and  contradictory  nature  of  the  book  permits  us  to  find 
passages  which  teach  a  close  personal  relationship  between 
God  and  man.  "O  ye  who  believe!  answer  God  and  his 
apostle  when  he  calls  you  to  that  which  quickens  you,  and 
know  that  God  steps  in  between  man  and  his  heart,  and 
that  to  him  ye  shall  be  gathered."  2  Though  on  a  far  lower 
spiritual  plane,  does  not  this  quotation  from  the  Koran  seem 
to  belong  to  the  same  order  of  ideas  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment words:  "Behold!  I  stand  at  the  door  and  knock"?3 
At  any  rate  it  is  a  far  cry  from  the  Great  Player,  arbitrarily 
moving  the  chessmen!  Or  again:  "We  created  man  and 
we  know  what  his  soul  whispers,  for  we  are  nearer  to  him 
than  his  jugular  vein."  4  If,  as  Zwemer  objects,  this  pas- 
sage describes  the  nearness  of  God  to  man  rather  than  that 
of  man  to  God,  we  may  point  to  the  following:  "  When  dis- 
tress touches  man,  he  calls  us  to  his  side,  whether  sitting  or 
standing,  but  when  we  have  removed  him  from  his  dis- 
tress he  passes  on  as  though  he  had  not  called  on  us  in  a 
distress  that  touched  him."  5  Here  is  the  old  story,  once 
told  by  Malachi,  of  the  willingness  of  God  to  help,  and  of 
man's  callous  refusal.  Or  again :  "  Whosoever  takes  tight 
hold  on  God  he  is  guided  in  the  right  way."  6  "Are  not 
verily  the  friends  of  God  those  on  whom  there  is  no  fear, 
neither  shall  they  be  grieved  ?  "  7  "  Those  who  believe  and 
whose  hearts  are  comforted  by  the  mention  of  God — aye! 
by  the  mention  of  God  shall  their  hearts  be  comforted 
who  believe  and  do  what  is  right.  Good  cheer  for  them 
and  an  excellent  resort."  8  "  Be  ye  glad,  then,  in  the  cove- 

1  "The  Moslem  Doctrine  of  God,"  pp.  69  and  70,  by  S.  M.  Zwemer. 
Compare  the  famous  arraignment  of  W.  G.  Palgrave,  "  Narrative  of  a 
Year's  Journey  through  Arabia"  (1862-3),  vol.  I,  pp.  365-367. 

2  Surah  VIII,  24.  3  Rev.  3  : 20.  <  Surah  L,  15. 
5  X,  12.                               6  III,  96.  7  X,  64. 

8  XIII,  28. 


190  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

nant  which  ye  have  made  with  him,  for  that  is  the  mighty 
happiness!  Those  who  repent,  those  who  worship,  those 
who  praise,  those  who  fast,  those  who  bow  down,  those  who 
adore,  those  who  bid  what  is  right  and  forbid  what  is  wrong, 
and  those  who  keep  the  bounds  of  God — glad  tidings  to  those 
who  believe!"  * 

A  corollary  to  the  disbelief  in  the  fatherhood  of  God  is  a 
disbelief  in  the  brotherhood  of  man.  A  distinction,  how- 
ever, should  here  be  made.  Every  religion  practically  rec- 
ognizes some  sort  of  brotherhood  among  its  own  members, 
whatever  the  conception  of  God  may  be.  It  was  not  until 
the  Hebrew  prophets  began  to  see  dimly  that  God  was  the 
father  of  the  human  race,  that  any  sense  of  a  brotherhood, 
including  the  whole  family  of  man,  became  possible.  That 
Christianity  was  intended  by  its  founder  to  be  a  world  re- 
ligion, as  over  against  the  religion  of  a  "  peculiar  people," 
was  revealed  to  Peter  in  that  vision  in  Joppa.  This  doc- 
trine constituted  for  Saint  Paul  a  startling  discovery;  it  was 
"the  mystery  hid  from  ages":2  his  warrant  for  the  title 
"Apostle  to  the  Gentiles."  Historically,  thus,  the  doctrine 
made  an  early  appearance  in  Christendom,  but  it  has  been 
the  last  doctrine  to  be  transmuted  into  the  actual  daily  ex- 
perience of  Christians.  To  desire  to  extend  the  privileges 
of  one's  own  religion  to  "the  heathen"  or  "the  infidels"  is 
one  matter.  Moslems  share  this  desire  with  Christians; 
to  regard  all  members  of  the  human  race  as  brothers,  irre- 
spective of  their  conversion,  is  not  an  ideal  of  Islam,  and  is 
still  hardly  more  than  an  ideal  of  Christianity.  The  his- 
tory of  the  treatment  of  Christians  in  Syria  and  Palestine 
since  the  Moslem  domination,  notwithstanding  many  ter- 
rible interludes,  shows  long  periods  of  toleration,  but  this 
toleration  has  been  the  toleration  for  an  inferior,  always 
tempered  with  disdain,  often  discounted  by  oppression. 
This  point  has  already  been  touched  in  the  first  chapter. 

The  Koran  teaches  that  the  infidels  are  to  be  regarded  as 
the  enemies  of  all  true  believers.  It  preaches  the  jihad,  or 
holy  war,  against  all  who  refuse  belief  in  Islam.  However, 
among  the  enemies  of  the  faith  a  distinction  is  made.  The 

1 IX,  114.  2  Col.  1  :  26  and  27;  cf.  Eph.  3  :  3-6. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  191 

mushrikin'  (variously  translated  "  idolaters"  and  "  those  who 
join  other  gods  with  God")  are  regarded  as  worse  than  the 
Ahl-el-Kitab'  ("the  people  of  the  book");  that  is,  the  Jews 
and  the  Christians.1  It  is  against  the  former  that  the  fol- 
lowing terrible  passage  is  directed:  "But  when  the  sacred 
months  have  passed  away,  kill  the  idolaters  wherever  ye 
may  find  them;  and  take  them,  and  besiege  them  and  lie 
in  wait  for  them  in  every  place  of  observation;  but  if  they 
repent  and  are  steadfast  in  prayer,  and  give  alms,  then  let 
them  go  their  way;  verily  God  is  forgiving  and  merciful." 
The  jihad  against  the  Christians  and  Jews  is  preached  in 
milder  terms :  "  Make  war  upon  such  of  those  to  whom  the 
Scriptures  have  been  given  as  believe  not  in  God,  or  in  the 
last  day,  and  forbid  not  that  which  God  and  his  apostle 
have  forbidden,  and  who  profess  not  the  profession  of  the 
truth,  until  they  pay  tribute  out  of  hand,  and  they  be  hum- 
bled." 3  The  Moslem  commentators  agree  that  the  duty 
of  the  holy  war  is  meant  to  extend  to  all  time. 

In  the  Book  of  Joshua  may  be  found  description  of  events 
that  indeed  seem  to  parallel  the  deeds  and  spirit  of  the 
jihad.  But  no  one  has  arisen  in  Islam  to  say:  "Ye  have 
heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
and  hate  thine  enemy,  but  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  ene- 
mies, bless  them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate 
you,  and  pray  for  them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  per- 
secute you."  The  spirit  of  these  words,  I  repeat,  enters 
vitally  into  the  ideal  of  Christianity,  but  it  does  not  enter 
into  the  ideal  of  Islam,  as  presented  in  the  Koran  or  as  held 

1  The  attitude  of  the  Koran  in  regard  to  Christians  is  self -contra- 
dictory.    It  is  usually  stated  that,  as  the  years  went  on,  Mohammed 
underwent  a  change  toward  them,  from  a  spirit  of  conciliation  to  one 
more  uncompromising.     However,  surah  V,  according  to  Noldeke  the 
last  one  revealed,  contains  two  of  the  most  conflicting  statements.     In 
verse  56  we  read :  "  O  ye  who  believe,  take  not  the  Jews  and  Christians 
for  your  patrons  (or  friends);  they  are  patrons  (or  friends)  of  each 
other;  but  whoso  amongst  you  takes  them  for  patrons,  verily  he  is  of 
them,  and  verily  God  guides  not  an  unjust  people."     But  in  verse  85 
we  are  told  that  of  all  men  nearest  in  love  to  believers  are  those  who 
say  "we  are  Christians"! 

2  Surah  IX,  5-8.  •  IX,  29  (Hughes's  translation). 


192  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

by  its  votaries.  Saint  Bartholomew's  Day  and  the  massa- 
cres at  Kishineff,  to  take  example  from  a  long  catalogue  of 
events  dishonoring  to  Christianity,  constitute  a  direct  denial 
of  this  ideal.  What  shall  we  say  of  the  massacres  of  Adana, 
when  within  a  few  days  at  least  12,000  men,  women,  and 
children  of  the  district  were  murdered  with  unspeakable 
horrors;  when  this  slaughter  was  sometimes  preceded  by  a 
sermon  in  the  mosque,  and  often  accompanied  by  cries  on 
the  prophet  and  curses  upon  Christianity?  The  answer  is 
by  no  means  simple.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  while 
the  fanaticism  of  the  people  was  doubtless  utilized,  these 
massacres  are  supposed  to  have  formed  but  a  part  of  that 
counter-revolution  started  by  'Abdul-Hamid,  in  a  last  des- 
perate attempt  to  retain  his  sovereignty;1  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  agents  of  the  reaction  terrified  the  people  by 
insinuating  the  conviction  that  the  Moslem  supremacy  was 
threatened  by  the  Armenians,  color  being  given  to  this  in- 
sinuation by  the  actions  of  a  few  hare-brained  Armenian 
revolutionists;  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  ingrained 
passions  of  cruelty  and  greed  and  lust  are  bound  to  rage  in 
any  uncontrolled  mob  when  once  it  has  become  inflamed; 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Sheikh-ul-Islam,  the  relig- 

1  The  Armenian  massacres  of  1895-6,  in  which  100,000  people  were 
butchered,  were  arranged  and  ordered  by  the  central  government  at 
Constantinople.  At  this  time  the  province  of  Adana  was  not  affected. 
After  the  Adana  massacres  of  1908,  stories  were  afloat  in  different 
centres  of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria,  telling  of  orders  from  Constantinople 
for  the  massacre  of  Christians  which  were  set  aside  by  the  local  authori- 
ties, civil  or  military.  None  of  these  stories  has,  as  far  as  I  am  aware, 
been  authenticated,  but  not  all  have  been  disproved.  The  parliamen- 
tary committee,  consisting  of  three  young  Turks  and  two  Armenians, 
sent  to  investigate  the  Adana  massacre,  in  spite  of  their  predisposition 
to  accept  evidence  implicating  the  old  sultan,  failed  entirely  to  find 
this.  Dr.  Shepard,  of  'Aintab  (see  article  in  the  "Journal  of  Race  De- 
velopment," January,  1911,  p.  339),  states  that  seventy  Moslems  were 
hanged  for  killing  Christians  in  the  general  uprising.  The  same  writer 
says  of  the  massacre  (p.  327) :  "  It  seems  to  have  been  a  spontaneous 
local  outbreak,  and  its  only  connection  with  'Abdul-Hamld  was  that 
when  the  reactionaries  got  the  welcome  news  that  he  was  again  in  the 
saddle,  they  thought  that  by  the  massacre  of  Armenians  they  could 
feed  fat  their  ancient  grudge,  enrich  themselves,  and  at  the  same  time 
ingratiate  themselves  with  the  sultan." 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  193 

ious  head  of  the  Mohammedans  of  Turkey,  has  officially 
repudiated  these  atrocities  as  contrary  to  the  teaching  of 
Islam,1  and  finally  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  in  many 
cases  Christians  escaped  death  by  finding  shelter  with  kindly 
Moslems.  Two  things,  however,  are  certain.  If  ever  the 
day  dawns  when  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  shall  control 
the  actions  of  Christendom,  on  that  day  the  spirit  that  made 
Saint  Bartholomew's  or  the  tragedy  of  Kishineff  a  possi- 
bility will  vanish;  but  as  long  as  Islam  repudiates  the 
fatherhood  of  God,  thus  repudiating  at  the  same  time  the 
universal  brotherhood  of  man,  so  long  will  a  recrudescence 
of  the  Adana  massacres  remain  as  a  menace  to  the  Turkish 
Empire.  The  noble  affirmations  of  Islam  are  in  constant 
danger  of  paralysis  from  its  negations. 

The  second  part  of  the  kalimah,  or  creed,  states  that  Mo- 
hammed is  the  apostle  of  God.  It  is  important  to  remem- 
ber that  Mohammed  did  not  claim  to  be  the  founder  of  a 
new  religion,  but  merely  to  announce  a  new  covenant.  The 
Koran  calls  him  the  seal  of  the  prophets.2  He  thus  is  be- 
lieved to  have  at  once  confirmed  and  superseded  the  revela- 
tions made  to  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Jesus. 
We  have  seen  that  Mohammed  in  the  Koran  distinguishes 
between  himself  as  an  erring  mortal  and  as  the  prophet  of 
God.  For  his  followers  to-day,  however,  the  distinction  has 
faded  out  of  sight.  While  any  direct  attribution  of  divinity 
would  be  universally  and  indignantly  repudiated  by  his  fol- 
lowers, his  practical  apotheosis  is  wellnigh  complete.  He 
is  held  to  have  been  sinless.  Every  perfection  of  character 
is  attributed  to  him.  Prayers  are  never  addressed  to  him, 


1  See  article,  "The  Moslem  Answer  to  Christendom,"  in  "Pearson's 
Magazine"  for  August,  1909,  pp.  165-168,  by  James  Creelman,  who  had 
an  interview  with  the  Sheikh  ul-Islam  shortly  after  the  massacres. 
"There  is  nothing,"  said  the  sheikh,  "in  the  law,  nothing  in  the  Koran, 
nothing  in  Moslem  policy  or  intention  that  sanctions  hatred  or  strife 
between  subjects  of  the  empire,  be  they  Moslems,  Christians,  or  Jews. 
.  .  .  I  say  this  officially  and  without  any  reserve."     "We  look  upon 
the  massacres  with  horror,"  etc.,  etc. 

2  Surah  XXXIII,  40. 


194  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

but  his  name  is  never  mentioned  without  a  prayer.1  He  is 
to  be  the  intercessor  at  the  day  of  judgment.  His  example 
in  matters  of  faith  and  practice,  as  substantiated  by  the 
traditions,  which  profess  to  be  the  records  of  what  he  did, 
of  what  he  said,  and  of  what  was  done  in  his  presence,  un- 
forbidden  by  him,  is  practically  as  binding  as  the  teaching 
of  the  Koran  itself.  Practice  based  on  the  example  of  the 
prophet  is  called  "Sunnah."  The  traditions  —  often  called 
the  table-talk  of  Mohammed  —  vary  greatly  in  their  authen- 
ticity, which  has  been  the  subject  of  much  learned  discussion. 
For  example,  Abu  Daud  received  only  4,800  out  of  500,000!  2 

1  There  is  a  phrase  constantly  on  the  lips  of  the  peasants  of  Syria 
when  they  wish  to  emphasize  the  importance  of  a  statement  which  is 
capable  of  misinterpretation  by  strangers  who  translate  it  carelessly, 
"Pray  to  the  Prophet."  This  phrase  has  been  explained  to  me  by  a 
noted  Arab  grammarian  as  an  ellipsis  for  a  longer  phrase.  When  a  man 

is  _  adjured  with  the  words  /c^l  J^  \^*^>  he  at  once  responds: 
&-UI  JLo  (God  has  prayed  for  him  and  blessed  him). 


Hence  the  full  meaning  of  the  adjuration  is:  "  Say,  God  has  prayed  for 
Mohammed  and  blessed  him"  —  a  quotation  from  the  daily  prayer. 
When  the  adjuration  is  put  in  the  form  of  a  question,  it  means  some- 
thing as  follows:  "Are  you  paying  strict  attention?  Are  you  in  a  suf- 
ficiently serious  frame  of  mind  regarding  the  matter  in  hand  that  you 
can  say:  'God  has  prayed  for  the  prophet?'"  etc.  Sometimes  porters 
when  carrying  a  load  call  out  "Ya  rusul  Allah"  (O  prophet  of  God!), 
just  as  they  call  out  "  Ya  Khalil"  (O  Abraham!),  or  just  as  the  dervishes 
address  the  long-dead  founders  of  their  orders. 

2  See  article,  "Traditions,"  in  Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam."  In 
regard  to  the  bearing  of  the  traditions  on  Moslem  theology,  Stanley 
Lane  Poole  makes  the  following  observations  in  his  "Studies  in  a 
Mosque,"  pp.  164-167.  "A  large  portion  of  what  Moslems  believe  and 
practice  is  not  found  in  the  Koran  at  all.  We  do  not  mean  that  the 
traditions  of  Mohammed  are  not  as  good  authority  as  the  Koran  —  and, 
indeed,  except  that  in  the  latter  case  the  prophet  professed  to  speak  the 
words  of  God,  and  in  the  former  he  did  not  so  profess,  there  is  little  to 
choose  between  them  —  nor  do  we  assert  that  the  early  doctors  of  the 
law  displayed  any  imaginative  faculty  in  drawing  their  inferences  and 
analogies,  though  we  have  our  suspicions;  all  that  we  would  insist  on  is 
that  it  is  a  mistake  to  call  the  Koran  either  the  theological  com- 
pendium or  the  corpus  legis  of  Islam." 

The  Sunnis  recognize  four  Orthodox  schools  of  interpretation  —  the 
Hanafl'yeh,  ShafiTyeh,  Malakf'yeh,  and  Hanball'yeh.  Their  differ- 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  195 

Though  held  in  extreme  reverence,  the  prophet's  name  is 
freely  bestowed  on  the  children  of  Moslems.  Mohammed  is 
the  commonest  name  in  all  Islam. 

Before  passing  on  to  the  second  pillar  of  practical  relig- 
ion, we  may  glance  rapidly  at  the  remaining  points  of  Mos- 
lem theology.1  Of  the  six  articles  which  enter  into  the 
Iman'  Mufas'sal,  or  formal  declaration  of  Moslem  belief,  we 
have  sufficiently  considered  the  first  and  third,  the  unity 
of  God,  and  the  sacred  books.  In  our  sketch  of  the  idea 
of  God,  we  have  also  touched  on  the  sixth,  the  doctrine  of 
predestination.  We  may  add  here  that,  as  taught  by  the 
Koran,  the  doctrine  agrees  with  the  Westminster  confes- 
sion that  "God  foreordained  whatsoever  comes  to  pass." 
The  traditions  say  that  God  preordained  five  things  on  his 
servants;  the  duration  of  life,  their  actions,  their  dwelling- 
places,  their  travels,  and  their  portions.  However,  the  influ- 
ence of  the  doctrine  on  the  mental  attitude  of  Moslems  finds 
but  a  partial  analogy  in  the  outlook  on  life  of  those  Chris- 
tians who  to-day  subscribe  to  the  Shorter  Catechism.  For 
them  belief  in  predestination  has  become  purely  academic. 
But  in  the  Mohammedan  world  all  the  decrees  of  God  are 
potent  forces.  On  them  is  based  that  Islam  or  resignation 

ences  consist  chiefly  in  minor  variations  of  ritual  and  varied  interpre- 
tations of  Moslem  law.  The.Shi'ahs  have  a  corpus  of  traditions  of 
their  own,  including  many  sayings  of  'AH  and  the  other  Imams.  They 
reject  the  corpus  of  the  Sunnis,  especially  repudiating  the  traditions  pre- 
served by  the  first  three  caliphs. 

In  the  great  mosque  at  Damascus  there  are  four  mihrabs,  or  prayer- 
niches,  for  the  use  of  the  four  Orthodox  schools  respectively.  The  Ma- 
lakiyeh  are  few  in  Syria.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Shafi'iyeh,  who  fol- 
low the  easiest  rites,  are  common,  outnumbering,  at  least  in  Damascus 
and  environs,  the  followers  of  all  other  schools,  and  including  the  mass 
of  the  people,  fellahin  and  tradesmen.  The  Hanafiyeh  have  been  called 
the  Pharisees  of  Islam,  as  their  sheikhs  wear  intensely  white  turbans 
and  teach  stricter  forms  of  ablution,  etc.  Their  followers  are  found 
among  the  aristocrats  and  high  Turkish  officials. 

1  As  recognized  by  all  Western  commentators,  the  theology  of  Islam 
is  a  synthesis  of  ideas  borrowed,  in  more  or  less  distorted  form,  from 
heathenism,  Christianity,  and  Talmudic  Judaism,  the  last-named  ele- 
ment greatly  predominating.  A  tabulated  analysis  of  the  sources  of 
the  different  elements,  which  represents  the  point  of  view  of  the  com- 
piler, is  given  in  "Arabia  the  Cradle  of  Islam,"  by  S.  M.  Zwemer. 


196  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

which  names  the  religion  itself.  The  practical  effects  of 
the  doctrine,  however,  range  between  two  extremes.  At 
one  extreme  is  the  apathetic  fatalism  of  the  ignorant  masses 
that  refuses  to  take  precautions  against  disease  even  in  the 
midst  of  an  epidemic.  At  the  other  is  true  submission  to 
the  will  of  a  just  God,  experienced  by  many  a  pious  Mos- 
lem, a  submission  which  another  great  Semitic  religion  has 
voiced  in  the  expressions :  "  Shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right?"  "Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in 
him";  and  into  which  Christianity  has  transfused  its  own 
gentler  spirit,  breathing  forth  in  the  hymn  "  I  worship  thee, 
sweet  will  of  God."  One  saying  of  Mohammed,  which 
softens  the  harshness  of  the  doctrine,  may  be  quoted :  Once 
the  prophet  was  sitting  under  a  wall  that  suddenly  began 
to  totter;  quickly  rising,  he  crossed  over  to  the  other  side 
of  the  road.  When  the  on-lookers  accused  him  of  fleeing 
from  the  decree  of  God,  he  replied :  "  By  the  decree  of  God 
I  have  fled  from  the  decree  of  God  to  the  decree  of  God!" 
There  remain  to  be  noticed  briefly  the  doctrines  concern- 
ing the  angels,  the  prophets — apart  from  Mohammed — and 
the  resurrection,  including  the  judgment,  heaven,  and  hell. 
A  belief  in  angels,  jinns,  and  devils  is  not  only  taught  by 
the  Koran  and  the  traditions,  but  enters  vitally  into  the  life 
of  Islam.  There  are  four  archangels:  Gabriel,  through 
whom  the  Koran  was  revealed;  Michael,  the  patron  of  the 
Jews;  Azrael,  who  is  the  Angel  of  Death;  and  Israfel,  who 
will  sound  the  last  trump.  Every  believer  is  said  to  be 
attended  by  two  recording  angels,  to  note  respectively  his 
good  and  bad  deeds.  The  numerous  bands  of  angels  also 
includes  Mun'kar  and  Nakir',  who  preside  at  the  examina- 
tion of  the  tomb,  to  be  described  later.1  The  jinns  or  genii 
comprise  spirits  of  various  shapes,  and  include  both  good 
and  bad.  The  Koran  is  full  of  teachings  in  regard  to  their 
nature  and  doings,  while  the  possibility  of  their  appearance 
is  a  constant  source  of  terror  to  simple-minded  Mohamme- 
dans. Equally  numerous  are  the  devils,  headed  by  Satan, 
who  is  called  both  Shaitan'  and  Iblis'.  With  tiresome  iter- 
ation the  Koran  tells  the  story  of  his  expulsion  from  para- 

1  See  p.  293. 


CONFESSION  OF  THE  CREED  197 

dise  because  he  refused  to  adore  Adam  along  with  the  other 
angels. 

The  Moslem  commentators  distinguish  between  the  or- 
dinary prophets,  who  indeed  are  held  to  have  been  directly 
inspired  of  God,  and  the  apostles,  who,  over  and  above  the 
ordinary  prophetic  function,  are  intrusted  with  especial 
missions.  Mohammed  is  related  to  have  said  that  there 
had  been  124,000  an'biya,  or  prophets,  and  315  ru'sul,  or 
apostles.  Six  of  the  latter  have  especial  titles:  Adam,  the 
chosen  of  God;  Noah,  the  preacher  of  God;  Abraham,  the 
friend  of  God;  Moses,  the  converser  with  God;  Jesus,  the 
spirit  of  God;  and  Mohammed,  the  messenger  of  God. 
Enoch  (Idris'),  Methuselah,  Lot,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph, 
Aaron,  David,  Solomon,  Job,  Elijah,  Elisha,  Zacharias,  and 
John  the  Baptist  (Yah'ya)  were  all  prophets.  Some  in- 
clude Alexander  the  Great  and  ^Esop,  though  Moslem 
commentators  differ  as  to  whether  they  were  actually  in- 
spired. Many  of  these  are  no  more  than  names  to  the 
people,  but  the  ejaculation  "  Ya  KhahT"  ("O  Friend"),  by 
which  Abraham  is  signified,  is  common  in  southern  Pales- 
tine— where,  indeed,  Hebron,  the  burial-place  of  the  patri- 
archs, ordinarily  goes  by  the  name  of  El-Khalil;  while  the 
cult  of  Elijah  is  universal,  whether  under  his  own  name  or 
under  that  of  Khudr,  the  ever  living  one,  or  that  of  Saint 
George,  with  both  of  whom  he  is  identified.1 

The  theology  of  Islam  is  dominated  by  its  eschatology. 
In  the  Koran  there  are  no  descriptions  more  graphic  and 
detailed  than  those  of  the  resurrection  and  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, of  heaven  and  hell.  It  is  the  consensus  of  Moslem 
interpretation  that  the  accounts  are  to  be  taken  literally. 
The  descriptions  of  the  resurrection  and  the  day  of  judg- 
ment are  not  without  a  certain  grandeur  of  moral  dignity. 
The  description  of  paradise  is,  on  the  face  of  it,  sensuous 
rather  than  sensual,  though  Palmer  seems  to  state  the  case 
altogether  too  euphemistically  when  he  says:  "It  appears 
.  .  .  from  the  Quran,  to  be  little  more  than  an  intense  real- 
ization of  all  that  a  dweller  in  a  hot,  parched,  and  barren 
land  could  desire,  namely,  shade,  water,  fruit,  rest,  and  pleas- 

1  Compare  with  p.  10. 


198  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

ant  companionship  and  service."  Attention  should  be 
called  to  a  very  few  passages  which  rise  to  a  higher  concep- 
tion of  paradise,  involving  the  idea  of  moral  purity.  "  They 
shall  hear  there  no  folly  and  no  sin ;  only  the  speech,  Peace, 
peace!"  "They  shall  pass  to  and  fro  a  cup  in  which  is  no 
folly  and  no  sin."  Paradise  is  to  contain  "  no  folly  and  no 
lie."  It  is  a  place  for  "those  not  lusting."2  But  whatever 
may  be  the  ideas  of  the  Koran,  the  "  table  talk"  of  Moham- 
med is  strongly  tainted  with  sensuality.  The  least  of  the 
believers  is  promised  eighty  thousand  slaves  and  seventy- 
two  thousand  women.  Popular  conception  agrees  with  offi- 
cial interpretation  in  taking  such  statements  literally. 

The  description  of  hell  is  crudely  realistic,  coarsely  lurid, 
reeking  with  loathsome  physical  detail,  reiterated  with 
horrid  unction,  with  odious  gusto.  Heaven,  in  one  of  its 
seven  divisions,  is  the  final  destination  of  all  Moslems. 
Hell,  also  in  seven  divisions,  is  the  eternal  reward  of  all 
those  who  reject  Islam.3  Opinions  differ  as  to  an  interme- 
diate purgatorial  state  for  those  Moslems  who  have  com- 
mitted great  sins.  The  accounts  of  the  day  of  judgment, 
with  its  balance,  in  which  good  and  evil  deeds  are  weighed, 
favor  the  purgatorial  idea.4  The  time  of  the  great  day  is 
unknown  to  all  save  God  alone:  not  even  Gabriel  could  re- 
veal it  to  Mohammed.  It  is  to  be  preceded  by  the  resur- 
rection, which  is  to  be  ushered  in  by  many  signs : 5  among 
these  will  be  the  descent  of  Jesus  to  inaugurate  a  short  pe- 
riod having  the  millenial  marks  of  universal  harmony;  the 
appearance  of  Gog  and  Magog;  various  convulsions  of  nat- 

1  See  the  introduction  to  Palmer's  translation,  p.  Ixx. 

2  LVI,  24,  25;  LII,  23;  LXXVIII,  35;  LXXIX,  40. 

3  So  the  general  teaching,  though  the  following  passage  appears  to 
point  the  other  way:    "Verily  whether  it  be  of  those  who  believe,  or 
those  who  are  Jews  or  Christians  or  Sabseans,  whosoever  believe  in  God 
and  the  last  day  and  act  aright,  they  have  their  reward  at  their  Lord's 
hand,  and  there  is  no  fear  for  them,  neither  shall  they  grieve."     (Surah 
II,  59.) 

4  For  this  I  find  confirmation  in  a  satiric  anecdote  once  told  me  by  a 
Moslem  friend,  involving  the  punishment  of  hell  for  those  Moslems 
who  do  not  fast  in  Ramadhan. 

5  Many  of  these  are  borrowed  from  the  Talmud. 


PRAYER  199 

tire;  a  recrudescence  of  idolatry,  and  the  coming  of  the 
Mahdi,  or  guide.  On  the  great  day,  God  alone  is  to  be  the 
judge,  though  Mohammed  will  act  as  intercessor,  after  the 
office  shall  have  been  refused  in  turn  by  the  other  great 
prophets  from  Adam  to  Jesus.  After  the  ordeal  is  over, 
those  destined  for  heaven  take  the  right-hand  way,  and 
those  destined  for  hell  the  left,  but  both  must  first  pass  over 
the  bridge  called  Es-Sirat,  which  is  laid  over  the  mouth  of 
hell,1  and  which  is  finer  than  a  hair  and  sharper  than  a 
sword.  Such  are  the  mere  outlines  of  the  Moslem  escha- 
tology,  which  ramify  into  extraordinary  detail. 

II.    PRAYER 

The  second  pillar  of  practical  religion  is  prayer.  While 
the  privileges  of  private  or  personal  prayer,  unrestricted  by 
formula,  at  any  time  the  believer's  heart  is  turned  toward 
God,  is  recognized  by  the  Koran,  and  doubtless  enjoyed  by 
many  a  pious  Moslem,  prayer  is  usually  a  fixed  liturgical 
formula  uttered  at  set  times  and  in  a  prescribed  series  of 
positions.  For  these  stereotyped  forms  the  Koran  is  not 
responsible,  as  not  even  all  the  five  times  of  prayer  are  in- 
dicated together  in  any  one  place.  The  stated  hours  of 
prayer  are  at  dawn,  a  little  after  mid-day,  in  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon,  a  few  minutes  after  sunset,  and  when  the 
night  has  closed  in.  Established  centuries  before  the  time 
of  clocks  and  watches,  the  tradition  of  the  seasons  of  prayer 
is  not  kept  with  exactitude.  I  have  seen  a  man  at  his  mid- 

1  P.  T.  Baldensperger,  brought  up  in  Jerusalem,  declares  that  the 
phrase,  "Guide  us  in  the  straight  or  right  way,"  found  in  the  first 
surah  of  the  Koran,  refers  to  this  bridge,  which  "will  be  fixed  on  the  / 
temple  wall  of  Jerusalem  on  one  side  and  on  the  top  of  the  mosque  of 
Mount  Olivet  on  the  other,  whilst  a  huge  fire  will  fill  the  Valley  of 
Jehoshaphat  below.  On  the  judgment-day,  when  all  men  will  be  as- 
sembled on  the  temple  area,  Mohammed  will  make  them  pass  the 
bridge.  All  such  as  have  said  their  prayers  will  pass  to  the  other  side, 
whilst  such  as  have  omitted  them  will  fall  into  the  fire.  But  Moham- 
med will  save  the  Moslems  after  their  having  burned  for  a  while." 
(See  article,  "Woman  in  the' East,"  found  in  the  "Quarterly  State- 
ment of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,"  1899,  p.  146.) 


200  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

afternoon  devotions  within  three-quarters  of  an  hour  of  sun- 
set. I  have  heard  the  cry  wafted  from  the  minaret  two  hours 
before  sunrise,  when  the  dawn  was  not  even  a  promise. 
This  adhan,  or  call  to  prayer,  sung  in  a  sort  of  florid  chant, 
rings  out  above  every  mosque  in  Islam.  In  Turkey  the  flag 
often  floats  over  the  minaret  during  the  function.  The  crier, 
or  muadh'dhin,  is  often  chosen  for  the  strength  and  sweet- 
ness of  his  voice.  In  a  closely  built  city  like  Sidon  it  is  in- 
spiring to  listen  from  the  house  top  to  this  human  carillon, 
borne  through  the  sunset  glow  from  minaret  to  minaret,  with 
many  a  variety  of  key  and  cadence.  The  singer  first  faces 
the  south,  turning  to  the  other  points  of  the  compass  as  the 
chant  proceeds.  In  the  minarets  of  the  large  mosques  the 
singers  may  be  two  or  more,  chanting  now  alternately,  now 
in  unison.  "God  is  great!"  they  call  four  times,  and  then 
repeat  the  phrases:  "I  testify  that  there  is  no  God  but 
God!  I  testify  that  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God! 
Come  to  prayer!  Come  to  salvation!  God  is  great.  .  .  . 
Mercy  and  peace  be  unto  thee,  O  prophet  of  God!"  In 
some  lands  after  the  first  or  morning  call  the  words  are 
added:  "Prayer  is  better  than  sleep!" 

While  the  call  to  prayer  is  borne  over  their  heads,  the 
worshippers  should  murmur  appropriate  responses,  though 
some  of  them  may  still  be  going  through  the  prescribed 
ablutions  (wadhuV)  at  the  large  pool  in  the  court-yard, 
washing  their  mouth,  face,  nostrils,  hands,  arms,  up  to  the 
elbows,  and  feet  up  to  the  ankles.  It  is  meritorious  to  ejac- 
ulate a  brief  prayer  appropriate  to  each  action.1  Where 
water  is  unavailable,  as  in  the  desert,  sand  may  be  used  in- 
stead. But  the  Moslem  does  not  need  to  enter  a  mosque  to 
perform  these  regular  devotions.  He  may  make  any  clean 
spot  a  place  of  prayer.  Islam  has  none  of  the  mauvaise 
honte  or  false  shame  attaching  to  the  practice  of  Protestant 
Christianity.  Your  Moslem  visitor  may  interrupt  the  con- 
versation for  a  few  minutes,  while  he  says  the  noon  prayer 

1  These  are  given  in  Wortabet's  "Religion  in  the  East,"  p.  212. 
Note  that  these  ablutions  necessary  before  each  prayer  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Ghusl,  or  washing  of  the  whole  body,  prescribed 
after  certain  acts  that  produce  legal  impurity. 


PRAYER  201 

on  the  rug  in  your  reception-room.  I  once  saw  a  man  put 
down  his  prayer-rug  on  the  floor  of  a  railway  car.  As  the 
train  was  winding  through  the  tortuous  valley  leading  up  to 
Jerusalem,  the  worshipper,  who  had  begun  his  prayer  with 
his  face  turned  southward  toward  Mecca  (as  is  required), 1 
soon  found  himself  twisted  toward  every  point  of  the  com- 
pass, till  finally  he  suspended  his  devotions  to  consult  the 
company,  who  comforted  him  by  agreeing  that  God  would 
doubtless  recognize  his  good  intentions  in  the  matter  of  ori- 
entation. Pilgrims  for  Mecca  may  be  seen  adjusting  their 
rugs  on  the  steamer  deck  by  a  small  pocket  compass. 

No  matter  when  or  where  it  is  uttered,  the  Moslem  for- 
mula of  prayer  is  unvarying.  The  prescribed  series  of  posi- 
tions— standing,  bowing,  kneeling,  with  the  head  at  times 
bent  to  the  earth  and  the  hands  in  various  positions:  hang- 
ing at  the  side,  folded  on  the  stomach,  stretched  out  from 
the  lobes  of  the  ears,  touching  the  knees,  or  spread  on 
the  earth — these  positions,  with  the  accompanying  ejacula- 
tions and  quotations  from  the  Koran,  constitute  a  rak'ah, 
or  prostration.  The  number  of  rak'ahs  employed  varies 
with  the  different  times  and  with  the  zeal  of  the  worshipper. 
The  rak'ahs  are  ordinarily  designated  either  fardh,  obliga- 
tory, or  sunnah,  voluntary — a  purely  subjective  distinction, 
as  the  formula  is  practically  the  same  in  both  cases.  When 
a  Moslem  is  performing  a  fardh,  or  obligatory  prostration, 
he  is  supposed  to  be  following  a  positive  command  of  God; 
when  he  declares  his  prostration  to  be  sunnah,  or  voluntary, 
he  is  following  the  example  of  his  prophet.2  We  might, 
perhaps,  rank  in  theory  the  sunnah  prostration  with  those 
called  nafl  and  witr,  which  are  acknowledged  to  be  works 
of  merit  or  supererogation.  As  a  matter  of  practice,  how- 
ever, the  sunnah  prostrations  are  seldom  omitted  by  the 
Orthodox  Moslem  unless  pressed  for  time,  though  their 
performance  is  sometimes  less  formal  than  that  of  the  fardh 
devotions,  as  we  shall  see  shortly.3  It  is  estimated  that 

1  Moslems  at  first  prayed  toward  the  temple  in  Jerusalem. 

2  These  distinctions  apply  to  many  practices  besides  prayer.     (See 
Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  p.  286.) 

3  For  the  Shi'ah  practice,  see  p.  303. 


202  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

if  the  believer  follows  out  all  the  number  and  variety  of 
rak'ahs  required  and  recommended,  he  will  repeat  the  same 
formula  seventy-five  times  in  a  day! 1  A  Syrian  Moslem 
has  the  advantage  over  his  coreligionists  in  all  other  parts 
of  Asia,  except  Arabia,  in  that  his  oft-repeated  prayers  are 
uttered  in  his  mother- tongue.  Mohammed  gloried  in  his 
Arabic  Koran,  just  because  it  was  in  the  speech  of  the  com- 
mon people,  but  his  successors  guard  jealously  this  Arabic 
Koran  from  translation,  even  such  parts  as  enter  into  the 
daily  devotions  of  millions  of  Moslems,  in  China  and  India, 
who  cannot  understand  what  they  are  repeating!  Dr. 
Zwemer  estimates  that  three-fourths  of  the  Mohammedan 
world  pray  five  times  daily  in  an  unknown  tongue.2 

Every  prayer  to  be  acceptable  must  begin  with  a  formal 
declaration.  The  exact  wording  varies  with  the  education 
of  the  worshipper,  but  the  sentiment  should  be  expressed 
in  some  such  words  as,  "I  have  purposed  to  pray  to  Al- 
mighty God  (say)  two  fardh  rak'ahs  at  this  present  noon, 
a  duty  which  I  owe  to  Almighty  God,  facing  toward  the 
Holy  Ka'aba."  After  this  declaration  the  man  invalidates 
his  prayer  if  he  interrupts  it  to  answer  a  question,  and  this 
cannot  be  done  unless  he  first  turns  to  the  right  and  left, 
addressing  the  words,  "  Peace  be  upon  you,"  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  spirit  world.  He  then  must  begin  afresh  with 
the  declaration.  After  uttering  the  first  ejaculation,  "  God 
is  great,"  the  prayer  is  invalidated  if  for  more  than  three 
times  the  worshipper  relaxes  the  prescribed  positions  of 
the  hands,  in  wiping  off  perspiration,  or  brushing  off  a  fly. 
The  prayer  actually  begins  with  the  repetition  of  the  fat'- 
hah,  or  first  chapter  of  the  Koran,  which  has  been  called 
the  Lord's  Prayer  of  Islam,  so  constantly  is  it  uttered:  "In 
the  name  of  God  the  Compassionate,  the  Merciful,  Praise 
be  to  God,  the  Lord  of  the  Worlds,  the  Compassionate,  the 
Merciful,  King  of  the  Day  of  Judgment!  Thee  we  worship, 

1  See  the  article,  "Prayer,"  in  Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam/'  where 
the  number  of  rak'ahs  to  be  said  at  different  times  is  given  with  illus- 
trations of  all  the  postures,  and  full  text  of  the  ritual. 

2  "Islam:  A  Challenge  to  Faith,"  p.  104,  by  S.  M.  Zwemer  (New 
York,  1910). 


PRAYER  203 

and  Thee  we  ask  for  help.  Guide  us  in  the  right  way,  the 
way  of  those  to  whom  Thou  art  gracious;  not  of  those 
upon  whom  is  Thy  wrath,  nor  of  the  erring."  *  After  this, 
the  worshipper  should  recite  one  long  or  two  short  verses 
from  the  Koran,  but  he  may  extend  the  quotations  at  his 
discretion.  The  choice  often  falls  on  the  short  chapter  of 
the  unity:  "Say:  He  is  God  alone;  God  the  Eternal!  He 
begetteth  not,  and  is  not  begotten;  and  there  is  none  like 
unto  him.2  The  rest  of  the  rak'ah  consists  of  other  verses 
from  the  Koran  and  of  brief  ejaculations  in  praise  of  God 
and  of  his  greatness,  uttered  in  various  postures.  The 
second  rak'ah  is  a  repetition  of  the  first.  At  the  end  the 
worshipper,  being  on  his  knees,  says,  "Salutations  and 
mercies  and  good  things  are  unto  God.  The  mercy  and 
blessing  of  God  be  unto  thee,  O  prophet!"  Here  follows 
the  creed :  "  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is 
the  prophet  of  God" — during  the  recital  of  which  the  Mos- 
lem raises  the  right  forefinger.  This  performance  is  re- 
peated at  the  end  of  each  pair  of  rak'ahs  which  closes  with 
the  prayer:  "  O  God  have  mercy  on  Mohammed  and  his  peo- 
ple, as  Thou  hadst  mercy  on  Abraham  and  his  people,  and. 
bless  Mohammed  and  his  people  as  Thou  didst  bless  Abra- 
ham and  his  people,  for  Thou  art  full  of  praise  and  glory." 
The  worshipper  then  turns  his  head  to  the  right  and  to  the 
left,  saying  to  the  angels  and  to  the  spirits  of  the  departed : 
"Peace  be  unto  you!"  The  third  and  fourth  rak'ahs  re- 
peat the  features  of  the  preceding,  omitting  the  chapter 
after  the  fat'hah.  The  declaration  is  not  repeated  unless 
there  be  a  change  from  sunnah  to  fardh,  or  vice  versa.  At 
the  close  of  the  series  the  man  is  at  liberty  to  go  about  his 
business,  but  the  pious  man  will  continue  crouched  on  his 
knees,  with  his  hands  open  before  him,  engaged  in  private 
supplication,  praying  in  his  own  words  for  blessings  on  his 
family,  for  forgiveness,  for  guidance,  or  for  anything  he 
needs.  Some  continue  long  in  such  prayers,  extending  the 

1  Translation   of   Stanley  Lane   Poole.     The  fat'nah  is  sometimes 
preceded  by  a  short  quotation  from  the  Koran  in  the  first  rak'ah 
alone. 

2  Surah  CXII. 


204  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

time  of  worship  further  by  praising  God  with  the  help  of 
the  rosary.1 

The  sunnah,  or  voluntary  prayer,  is  always  said  by  a  man 
alone,  or  independently  of  an  imam',  or  leader,  and  it  is 
always  whispered.  When  several  persons  are  to  offer  the 
fardh,  or  obligatory  prayer,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  proper 
that  some  one  of  their  number  should  act  as  leader,  saying 
parts  of  the  service  in  a  loud  voice,  while  at  some  points  the 
others  make  responses.  When  alone,  a  man  says  part  of 
the  fardh  prayer  aloud  and  whispers  the  rest.  It  is  clear, 
thus,  that  wherever  a  Mohammedan  may  be,  he  may  per- 
form to  the  full  his  duties  toward  God,  independent  of 
priest  and  mosque.  Nevertheless,  with  the  development 
of  the  powerful  body  of  the  'ulama,  or  learned,  whose  learn- 
ing is  usually  confined  to  the  study  and  interpretation  of 
the  Koran  and  the  traditions,  has  developed  also  a  sort  of 
clergy — indeed,  a  sort  of  hierarchy.  But  it  is  a  clergy  de 
facto  rather  than  de  jure;  a  clergy  of  practical  convenience 
rather  than  of  ordination.  Moreover,  though  the  "clergy" 
act  as  an  official  body,  the  members  are  originally  self- 
appointed.  Any  one,  by  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
Koran,  or  by  attaching  himself  to  a  mosque,  may  assume 
the  white  turban  of  a  religious  sheikh.  At  any  time  he 
may  "unfrock"  himself  by  discarding  the  turban.  The 
nearest  approach  to  ordination,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  ob- 
tains in  central  Asia,  where  the  turban  is  bound  on  the 
head  of  the  would-be  sheikh  by  a  chief  mowlawa,  or  scholar.2 
Of  course,  many  of  these  religious  sheikhs  cannot  techni- 
cally aspire  to  the  name  of  'ulama,  or  learned  men,  but  they 
may  be  loosely  classed  with  them.  Like  them  they  live 
and  move  among  the  people,  and  yet  are  subtly  separate 
from  the  mass.  The  'ulama  may  engage  in  secular  busi- 

1  The  Moslem  rosary  consists  of  ninty-nine  round  beads,  loose  on  a 
string,  divided  into  three  sections  by  two  extra  round  beads,  called 
"showa'hid, "  or  "witnesses,"  with  an  elongated  bead  at  the  end  called 
the  "mai'dany,"  the  word  used  for  "minaret." 

2  See  Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  article,  "Clergy."     Compare 
with  a  similar  function  among  the  Palestine  dervishes,  p.  241,  of  the 
present  work. 


PRAYER  205 

ness,  but  their  whole  bearing  is  stamped  with  their  religious 
calling.  In  my  employ  in  the  Lachish  excavations  was  a 
very  poor  young,  white-turbaned  "  sheikh,"  whose  conditions 
of  life  were  the  same  with  those  of  his  fellow-workmen, 
save  that  he  could  read  and  write,  while  they  could  not; 
yet  he  was  subtly  differentiated  from  them  by  that  inde- 
scribable air  which  in  one  way  or  another  marks  the  "  theo- 
logical student"  of  whatever  race  or  religion.  As  a  class, 
the  'ulama  appear  to  be  devout,  fanatic,  obscurantist,  jeal- 
ous of  the  least  encroachment,  resentful  of  any  innovation. 
Of  course,  exceptions  occur.  Nothing  could  have  exceeded 
the  helpful  courtesy  of  well-known  Moslem  'ulama  extended 
to  me  when  I  was  making  researches  in  Damascus.  One 
of  these,  Sheikh  Ta'hir  el-Mugh'raby,  whom  I  surprised 
with  a  visit,  unintroduced  and  unannounced,  proved  to  be 
an  enthusiastic  scholar,  living  by  choice  in  the  humblest 
quarters,  that  he  might  buy  books,  which  absolutely  hemmed 
him  in  on  every  side,  and  which  were  by  no  means  confined 
to  Koranic  studies.  With  the  generosity  of  the  true  savant, 
he  was  eager  to  extend  his  enjoyment  of  his  treasures  to 
others.  During  his  last  journey,  the  late  Dr.  Curtiss  had 
similar  experiences.  Resident  Christian  missionaries  have 
cordial  relations  with  the  more  liberal-minded  sheikhs.  The 
influence  of  the  'ulama  on  public  life  is  instanced  by  a  large 
number  of  deputies  to  Parliament,  elected  from  this  class. 

Theoretically,  at  the  head  of  Islam  is  the  caliph  (kali'fah), 
or  successor  of  the  prophet.  Though  the  sultans  of  Turkey, 
being  not  even  Arabs,  of  course  fail  to  satisfy  the  canonical 
rule  requiring  all  caliphs  to  belong  to  the  Qureish,  or  tribe 
of  Mohammed,  they,  by  virtue  of  their  guardianship  of  the 
Hall  of  the  Holy  Garments,  at  Constantinople,  containing  the 
prophet's  mantle,  staff,  and  standard,  are  generally  recog- 
nized as  caliphs,  except  by  certain  African  Mohamme- 
dans, notably  by  the  inhabitants  of  Morocco,  whose  sultan 
strengthens  his  claim  to  the  caliphate  by  an  undoubted  sher- 
ifian  pedigree.1  The  Turkish  sultans,  however,  have  prac- 

1  The  claim  of  the  Ottoman  sultans  to  the  caliphate  rests  on  the 
following  transaction:  The  temporal  power  of  the  Abbasside  caliphs 
of  Baghdad,  who  ruled  from  750  to  1258  A.  D.,  was  overthrown  at  the 


206  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

tically  delegated  their  religious  duties  to  the  chiefs  of  the 
'ulama.  Thus,  even  the  caliph  himself  is  bound  by  the 
"fet'was,"  or  authoritative  interpretations  of  the  Koran 
delivered  by  the  Sheikh-ul-Islam,  who  represents  the  final 
court  of  religious  appeal  in  Turkey.  At  Mecca  the  religious 
power  is  exercised  by  the  Grand  Sherif,  whose  nomination 
must  be  approved  by  the  Sheikh-ul-Islam  at  Constantino- 
ple. The  Moslem  "hierarchy"  is  not  sacerdotal,  neither 
does  it  distinguish  between  religion  and  law.  The  ordinary 
grades  are  imam',  mufti,  and  qa'dhi.  The  imam1  is  prac- 
tically the  "minister  of  the  parish";  leading  in  prayer  at 
the  mosque,  sometimes  preaching  the  sermon,  and  perform- 
ing the  religious  ceremony  usual  at  marriages.  The  great 
mosque  at  Aleppo  has  a  large  staff,  supported  by  the  "  waqf," 
or  religious  endowments,  including  eight  imams,  five  preach- 
ers, twenty-five  teachers,  and  twelve  muadh'dhins,  or  those 
who  call  to  prayer.  The  qa'dhi  is  the  judge  and  adminis- 
trator of  the  Koranic  law.  It  is  customary  for  him  to  lead 
the  prayers  at  a  funeral,  though  this  function  may  be  per- 
formed by  the  imam.  He  also  may  conduct  the  marriage 
ceremony.  The  mufti  assists  the  qa'dhi  in  the  capacity  of 
legal  adviser.  His  "fet'was,"  or  decisions  of  different  legal 
questions,  are  recognized  as  authoritative. 

In  the  Koran  the  believers  are  commanded,  when  they 
hear  the  call  to  prayer  on  congregation  day,  to  leave  all 
traffic  and  hasten  to  the  remembrance  of  God.  The  ref- 
erence is  to  Friday,  the  day  on  which  Mohammed  entered 

latter  date  by  Khalak  Khan.  Their  natural  descendants,  however,  who 
resided  in  Cairo  for  some  three  centuries,  continued  to  claim  the  spiritual 
power.  From  the  last  of  these  titular  caliphs,  Sultan  Selim  I  of  the 
house  of  'Othman  obtained,  in  1517  A.  D.,  a  transfer  or  cession  of  rights 
to  the  succession,  the  legality  of  which  has  been  strongly  disputed  and 
strongly  defended.  For  a  discussion  of  this  much-involved  question, 
see  Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  article,  "Khalifah." 

1  The  word  imam  is  used  by  the  Sunnis  in  different  senses  to  de- 
note the  following  classes  of  persons:  (1)  The  khalifah,  or  successor 
of  the  prophet.  (2)  The  great  doctors  of  divinity.  (3)  The  leader  of 
prayers  in  any  mosque.  For  the  use  of  term  by  the  Shiahs,  see  p.  301. 
In  the  villages  of  Palestine  the  term  khatib',  scribe,  school-master,  ap- 
pears to  be  equivalent  to  imam. 


PRAYER  207 

Medinah  for  the  first  time.  On  this  day,  in  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine, all  government  offices  are  closed.  Prayer,  then,  is  at- 
tended with  extraordinary  merit,  the  chief  services  at  the 
mosque  being  at  noon.1  It  is  estimated  that  at  Broussa,  the 
ancient  capital  of  Turkey,  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation attend  the  mosque  regularly.  At  Nablus,  the  ancient 
Shechem,  now  a  strong  centre  of  fanaticism,  Moslem  men 
found  in  the  street  at  this  noon  hour  on  Friday  are  liable  to  be 
stoned  by  Moslem  children.  The  interiors  of  the  mosques, 
large  or  small,  are  of  striking  simplicity.  In  the  south  is 
the  mihrab',  or  small  apse  directed  toward  Mecca.2  To 
the  right  of  this  should  stand  the  mim'bar,  or  pulpit.  In 
many  small  mosques  this  is  wanting,  as  there  is  no  preach- 
ing. On  the  walls,  usually  whitewashed,  but  sometimes 
richly  decorated  with  marbles,  hang  no  pictures.  No  seats 
cover  the  exquisitely  neat  floor,  which  may  be  strewn  with 
mats.  Shoes  must  be  left  outside  the  low  bar  or  partition 
at  the  door.  In  the  centre  of  the  arcaded  court-yard  often 
attached  to  mosques  there  is  usually  a  large  tank  in  which 
the  worshippers  perform  the  preliminary  ablutions. 

Most  mosques  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  including  the  most 
celebrated,  occupy  the  sites  of  Christian  churches.  Such 
are  the  great  mosques  at  Aleppo,  Beyrout,  Damascus,  Je- 
rusalem, Hebron,  and  Gaza.  Sometimes  the  old  church 
was  destroyed,  sometimes  radically  remodelled,  sometimes 
adapted  to  the  new  cult  with  the  minimum  of  alteration. 
The  sanctuaries  or  ha'rams  at  Jerusalem  and  Hebron  il- 
lustrate the  history  of  three  great  religions.  The  enclosing 
walls  of  the  Hebron  ha'ram  are  Herodian.  At  the  south 
end  of  the  court-yard  the  crusaders  built  a  church  which 
the  Moslems  turned  into  a  mosque.  Their  claim  that  the 
cenotaphs  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  with  those  of  their 
wives,  are  placed  above  the  cave  of  Macphelah  is  ordinarily 
accepted  by  scholars.  Verification  is  impossible,  as  no  one  is 
permitted  to  search  beneath  the  floor.  Indeed,  with  the 

1  The  classical  name  for  mosque  is  mas'jid,  that  is,  a  place  of  worship. 
The  name  ordinarily  in  use  in  Syria  is  ja'mia',  or  place  of  congregation. 

2  The  great  mosque  at  Damascus  contains  four  praying  niches  for 
the  respective  use  of  the  followers  of  the  four  schools  of  interpretation. 


208  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

exception  of  a  half-dozen  great  personages  with  their  suites, 
who  have  faced  the  local  fanaticism  with  an  imperial  per- 
mit, no  Christian  is  allowed  within  the  enclosure.  The 
Ha'ram-esh-Sherif,  or  noble  sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  in 
the  view  of  the  Mohammedan  world,  is  second  in  holiness- 
only  to  the  great  mosques  at  Mecca  and  Medinah.  The 
term  na'ram  applies  to  the  whole  area,  once  forming  the 
temple  court,  and  still  enclosed  by  massive  walls,  which 
contain  stones  of  many  periods,  including  wonder-compel- 
ling courses  of  megalithic  Jewish  masonry,  both  below  and 
above  ground.  Within  this  area  stand  the  Kub'bet-es- 
Sakh'ra,  or  Dome  of  the  Rock,  and  the  Mas'jid-el-Aq'sa, 
which  is  the  chief  place  of  worship  in  the  Holy  City.  The 
former  building  (wrongly  known  as  the  Mosque  of  Omar),, 
octagonal  in  shape,  is  not  ordinarily  used  as  a  mosque, 
though  it  contains  a  praying-niche.  It  was  built  as  a  memo- 
rial shrine,  at  the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  by  the  Caliph 
'Abd-el-Me'lik  to  cover  the  extended  outcrop  of  rock  around 
which  so  many  Jewish  and  Mohammedan  traditions  have 
gathered.  According  to  the  former,  here  is  the  spot  where 
Abraham  was  about  to  sacrifice  Isaac;  according  to  the 
latter,  it  was  the  point  of  departure  for  Mohammed,  on  his 
celebrated  night  journey  to  paradise.  It  was  probably  the 
site  of  the  great  altar  of  sacrifice  of  the  Jewish  Temple. 
During  the  crusading  period  the  building  was  turned  into 
a  church  called  the  Templum  Domini.  The  guardianship 
is  hereditary  in  one  family.  It  contains  famous  ancient 
copies  of  the  Koran,  as  well  as  banners  of  Mohammed  and 
'Omar.  The  Masjid-el-Aqsa  on  the  south  wall  of  the  en- 
closure, was  originally  built  by  Justinian  as  a  church  to 
the  Virgin. 

Merit,  attaching  to  the  Friday  devotions,  is  still  further 
increased  by  attending  the  noon  prayer  at  the  Aqsa  Mosque. 
Here  assemble  not  only  the  faithful  from  the  Holy  City,  but 
many  peasants  from  the  environs.  Long  before  the  time 
for  service,  the  people  begin  to  choose  their  places,  seating 
themselves  in  long  lines  across  the  matted  floor,  for  the  nearer 
the  worshipper  is  to  the  imam,  or  leader,  the  greater  will  be 
the  blessing.  Perhaps  he  may  have  already  offered  the  in- 


PRAYER  209 

formal  sunnah  prostrations  in  the  vast  grassy  area  outside; 
if  not,  he  performs  them  in  the  place  he  has  secured.  Thus, 
at  the  same  time,  a  single  line  may  show  worshippers  in 
every  posture  of  prayer.  At  noon  a  dozen  or  more  sheikhs, 
in  the  gallery  opposite  the  pulpit,  begin  to  chant  verses  of 
the  Koran,  or  hymns  composed  for  the  service.  At  the 
mention  of  the  name  of  Mohammed,  those  who  are  not  taken 
up  with  their  own  devotions  murmur,  in  true  Methodist 
style,  "God  prayed  for  him  and  blessed  him!"  In  the 
meantime  the  imam  has  been  donning  the  especial  Friday 
vestments — a  green  cloak  or  sort  of  soutane  and  an  ample 
green  turban.  Staff  in  hand,  he  walks  through  the  long 
lines,  preceded  by  a  lesser  sheikh  acting  as  verger,  to  clear 
the  way.  At  the  gate  of  the  pulpit  stairs  they  pause,  while 
the  verger  turns  to  the  people  and  warns  them,  by  quoting 
a  saying  of  the  prophet,  not  to  disturb  the  service,  even  by 
whispering  "Be  quiet"  to  a  neighbor!  While  the  imam 
is  making  his  slow  and  stately  ascent  of  the  high  pulpit  stairs 
with  a  pause  on  each  step,1  the  great  mosque  is  sounding  with 
the  call  to  prayer.  Verse  by  verse  the  verger  repeats  this 
adhan;  verse  by  verse  it  is  echoed  by  the  sheikhs  in  the 
gallery;  verse  by  verse  it  is  caught  up  by  a  singer  at  the 
door,  who  in  a  loud  voice  passes  on  the  holy  summons  to 
the  hundreds  of  worshippers  outside  extended  in  parallel 
lines  over  the  ancient  court-yard. 

The  imam  has  now  completed  his  ascent  of  the  pulpit, 
and,  staff  laid  aside,  is  standing  between  the  two  banners 
of  the  mosque,  ready  to  begin  the  sermon.  This  lasts  for 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  may  be  delivered  extempore, 
but  more  often  is  the  sermon  for  the  day  read  from  a  printed 
book  of  discourses  for  every  Friday  in  the  year.  They  treat 
of  subjects  of  practical  morality:  the  vanity  of  the  present 
world,  the  evanescence  of  kingly  power,  the  importance  of 
good  works.  After  the  sermon,  the  imam  offers  a  prayer 
for  the  sultan,  which  he  may  have  written  out  and  com- 
mitted to  memory.  While  he  is  praying,  the  people  may 
take  advantage  of  a  favorable  opportunity,  as  they  sit  silent, 

:The  imam  sometimes  repeats  the  fat'hah,  or  first  chapter  of  the 
Koran  on  each  step. 


210  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

to  offer  private  petitions.  Then  the  imam  goes  down  from  the 
pulpit  and  proceeding  to  the  mihrab,  or  small  apse,  toward 
the  south,  stands  with  his  back  to  the  people  as  their  leader 
in  the  main  function  of  the  service — the  two  fardh,  or  obliga- 
tory prostrations,  which,  because  of  the  especial  merit  at- 
taching to  the  day,  take  the  place  of  the  usual  four.  In  con- 
trast to  the  sunnah,  or  voluntary  prostrations,  which,  as  we 
have  noticed,  each  man  performs  independently,  these  ob- 
ligatory rak'ahs  are  gone  through  with  military  precision. 
The  hundreds  of  worshippers  in  long  lines  make  a  most 
impressive  sight:  now  standing  erect,  with  hands  folded  on 
the  breast,  now  bending  downward  from  the  waist,  now 
down  on  their  knees  with  forehead  touching  the  ground, 
and,  at  the  close,  all  turning  the  head  to  the  right  and  to  the 
left,  as  they  breathe  the  word  of  peace  to  the  spirits  of  the 
departed.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  recital  of  the  fat'hah 
by  the  imam,  the  people  murmur  "Amen!"  and  while  he  is 
uttering  the  next  passage  from  the  Koran,  they  all  whisper 
together  the  words  of  the  fat'hah.  When  the  two  required 
fardh  prostrations  are  over,  the  lines  are  often  at  once 
broken  up,  one  man  taking  a  step  forward,  another  a  step 
backward,  as  it  is  usual  to  change  the  position  before  the 
two  remaining  sunnah  or  voluntary  rak'ahs  are  performed, 
independently  of  the  imam,  as  before.  All  through  the  ser- 
vice representatives  of  the  mendicant  pilgrims  have  been 
going  between  the  lines  quietly  dropping  before  each  man  a 
leaflet  upon  which  have  been  written  verses  from  the  Koran, 
exhorting  to  charity.  A  collection  is  continuously  made  of 
such  cpins  as  the  worshippers  may  have  put  on  the  papers. 
Many  remain  in  the  mosque  after  the  service  is  over,  listen- 
ing to  more  chanting,  or  repeating  the  beautiful  names  of 
Allah,  as  they  tell  the  ninety-nine  beads  of  the  rosary. 

III.    FASTING  AND  LEGAL  ALMS 

For  the  Moslem,  the  third  pillar  of  practical  religion  is 
fasting.  This  is  regarded  as  an  atonement  for  sin.  While 
many  seasons  are  recommended  for  fasting,  it  is  obligatory 
only  during  the  month  of  Rarnadhan,  when  the  Koran  was 


FASTING  AND  LEGAL  ALMS  211 

revealed  from  heaven.  In  regard  to  its  observance  the 
book  is  most  explicit.  It  begins  on  the  first  day  of  the  month 
only  when  a  reputable  witness  is  able  to  announce  that  he 
has  seen  the  new  moon.  If  the  night  is  overclouded  at  a 
given  place  the  fast  is  postponed  there  to  the  second  day. 
From  early  dawn,  when  one  can  distinguish  a  white  thread 
from  a  black,  till  sunset,  all  adults  should  abstain  from 
food,  water,  tobacco,  and  from  every  sensuous  indulgence, 
including  even  the  smelling  of  flowers.  As  the  Moslem 
year  is  lunar,  each  Ramadhan  occurs  eleven  days  earlier 
than  the  previous,  so  that  in  the  course  of  about  thirty- 
three  years  it  has  fallen  in  the  depth  of  winter,  when  the 
gnawings  of  hunger  lengthen  out  the  short  days,  as  well  as 
in  the  fierce  heat  of  summer,  when  the  thirst  becomes  al- 
most unbearable.1  From  these  strict  exactions  are  exempt 
young  children,  infirm  persons,  and  women  who  are  preg- 
nant or  giving  suck.  The  sick  and  travellers  on  a  journey 
of  more  than  three  days  may  remit  the  fast,  but  must  make 
up  later  an  equal  number  of  days.  The  season  is  supposed 
to  offer  a  means  of  grace.  It  is  practically  a  Moslem  equiv- 
alent for  Lent.  The  devout  seclude  themselves,  spending 
much  of  the  time  in  the  study  of  the  Koran.  To  the  weight 
of  every  pound  of  charity  done  at  this  season,  God  is  said 
to  add  three  pounds.  Many  give  up  indulgence  in  doubtful 
practices,  such  as  gambling.  Old  quarrels  are  made  up. 
On  the  other  hand  hunger  and  thirst  themselves  foster  ex- 
asperation and  dispute.  "Ramadhan  temper"  is  a  recog- 
nized disorder.  Wortabet  says:  "It  is  computed  that  more 
cases  of  divorce  take  place  during  this  month  than  in  any 
other  two  of  the  year." 2  Fanaticism  is  easily  aroused. 
The  rich  spend  much  of  the  day  in  sleep,  but  the  poor  must 
go  on  earning  their  daily  bread.  I  can  testify  to  the  rigid 
observance  of  the  fast-day  by  the  large  majority  of  my  half 
a  hundred  peasant  workmen  in  southern  Palestine,  when 

1  As  established  by  the  prophet,  the  Mohammedan  year  consists  of 
twelve  lunar  months,  without  any  intercalation  to  make  it  correspond 
with  the  course  of  the  sun,  and  amounts  very  nearly  to  three  hundred 
and  fifty-four  days  and  nine  hours. 

2  "Religion  in  the  East,"  op.  cit.,  p.  218. 


212  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

Ramadhan  fell  in  the  torrid  month  of  May.  At  noon  recess, 
instead  of  eating  with  the  women,  almost  all  the  men  and 
youths  lay  down  to  rest  till  the  whistle  summoned  them  to 
work  again,  unrefreshed  by  food  or  drink.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  of  the  townspeople  make  a  pretence  of  fasting 
for  the  sake  of  public  opinion.  "  I  cannot  eat  in  town,"  said 
a  young  man  whom  I  found  seated  by  a  stream  on  one  of 
my  country  rides  near  Beyrout;  "and  as,  of  course,  I  must 
eat,  I  am  forced  to  have  a  picnic  with  some  of  my  friends 
who  have  just  gone  home."  On  the  whole,  however,  fast- 
ing is  much  more  rigidly  observed  than  are  the  five  daily 
hours  of  prayer.  Sometimes  this  observance  is  most  me- 
ticulous, as  when  a  woman  with  a  bad  throat  in  the  hos- 
pital demurred  to  having  her  tongue  held  down  by  an  iron 
presser,  on  the  ground  that  nothing  should  pass  her  lips. 
The  rigid  conscience  of  the  poor  creature  doubtless  suspected 
even  the  clinical  thermometer  of  concealing  some  forbidden 
nourishment. 

Ample  compensation  for  the  day's  fasting  is  offered  by  the 
night's  feasting,  which  may  begin  with  sunset  and  last  till 
dawn,  though,  as  a  rule,  only  two  meals  are  taken.  Indeed, 
Moslems  have  assured  me  that  the  long  hours  of  fasting  leave 
the  stomach  so  disinclined  for  food  that  a  man  eats  less 
than  usual.  The  choicest  food  of  the  year,  however,  is 
prepared  for  the  nights  of  Ramadhan.  Confectioners  then 
drive  their  richest  trade.  All  the  fruits  of  the  season  are 
temptingly  exposed  in  the  shops.  Night  is  turned  into  day. 
The  coffee-houses  are  crowded  with  men  leisurely  pulling 
at  the  gayly  decorated  narghileh,  with  a  sense  of  luxury 
fostered  by  a  day's  abstinence  from  tobacco.  The  mosques 
and  minarets  are  brilliant  with  lights.  One  night  in  Beyrout 
I  came  across  a  large  company  seated  in  an  open  space  near 
a  mosque,  listening  to  a  sort  of  sacred  concert.  From  the 
lofty  minaret  was  borne  the  sound  of  the  fresh  young  voices 
of  boys  ornamenting  their  singing  with  many  a  flourish  and 
roulade  and  florid  cadenza,  showing  a  flexibility  of  the  vocal 
cords  that  a  diva  might  well  envy.1  The  night's  sleep  is 

1  My  recollection  does  not  include  the  day  of  the  month  or  the 
exact  hour  of  night.  The  function  was  probably  either  the  towhish' 


FASTING  AND  LEGAL  ALMS  213 

short  enough  in  Ramadhan,  but  it  must  be  interrupted  by 
the  drum,  or  tom-tom,  beaten  by  the  man  who  goes  about,  in 
the  small  hours  of  the  morning,  chanting  a  summons  to  the 
faithful  to  rise  and  pray,  and  take  their  last  meal  before 
making  the  declaration  of  fasting  for  the  next  day,  without 
which  their  abstinence  would  be  of  no  avail  as  a  religious 
rite.1  After  the  meal  care  should  be  taken  lest  any  food  be 
left  even  between  the  teeth. 

During  Ramadhan  after  the  evening,  or  last  hour  of 
prayer,  twenty  additional  prostrations,  or  rak'ahs,  should  be 
offered.  In  Jersualem,  these  are  performed  in  the  Aqsa 
Mosque,  which  is  brightly  illuminated.  Between  every  pair 
of  rak'ahs  there  is  chanting.  After  the  Friday  noon  prayer, 
there  is  formed  in  the  same  place  a  procession  of  sheikhs, 
dervishes,  and  people,  who  then  move  toward  the  alleged 
tomb  of  David,  or  Neby  Daud,  chanting,  as  they  go, "  There 
is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God," 
"  God  is  great,"  with  other  sentences.  At  the  shrine  they 
offer  prayers,  and  then  have  a  huge  zikr.  This  function, 
which  in  its  elementary  form  consists  in  the  repetition  of  the 
divine  name  alone  or  in  unison,  is  by  no  means  confined  to 
the  dervishes,  as  is  sometimes  supposed.  Any  set  of  Mos- 
lems may  come  together  for  a  zikr,  which  is  literally  "a 
remembrance."2  In  the  Kubbet-es-Sakhra,  or  Dome  of 
the  Rock,  there  are  especial  functions  through  the  month 
of  Ramadhan.  Under  the  great  dome,  whose  elaborate 
arabesques  are  traced  in  rich  and  sombre  colors,  dimly 

or  farewell  to  Ramadhan,  which  is  celebrated  in  this  manner  after  mid- 
night, on  the  last  three  days  of  the  fast.  Or  it  may  have  been  a  mow'- 
lad,  or  a  recital  of  poetry  celebrating  the  birth  and  miracles  of  the 
prophet,  interpolated  with  singing.  The  recital  may  be  arranged  in 
fulfilment  of  a  vow  (accompanied  by  a  feast),  or  may  be  offered  by 
a  bridegroom,  at  any  time  of  the  year,  but  especially  in  Ramadhan,  in 
a  private  house  or  from  a  minaret. 

1  For  words  of  the  chant  used  among  the  fellahin  of  Palestine,  see 
the  article  by  P.  F.  Baldensperger,  entitled  "Orders  of  Holy  Men  in 
Palestine,"  in  "  Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund," 
1894,  p.  38. 

2  It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  zikr  of  the  uninitiated,  called 
the  zikr  of  imitation,  is  not  supposed  to  have  the  mystical  efficacy  in- 
herent in  the  function  when  performed  by  the  dervishes.     See  p.  258. 


214  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

glowing  in  the  molten  light  that  filters  in  through  the  jewelled 
glass  studding  the  windows  below,  there  assemble  from  noon 
on  those  who  would  study  the  Koran  from  the  big  volumes 
furnished  by  the  guardians.  An  hour  before  the  afternoon 
prayer,  sheikhs  representing  the  four  great  schools  of  Ortho- 
dox or  sunnite  interpretation,  begin  to  lecture  in  different 
parts  of  the  building  to  groups  of  followers.1  In  front  of 
the  sheikh,  who  may  be  seated  either  on  a  platform  or  on  the 
floor,  is  a  pupil,  wrho  reads  the  verse  to  be  interpreted  by  the 
master.  Women  are  allowed  to  listen  from  behind  the  grille 
surrounding  the  great  outcrop  of  rock,  which  may  have 
been  the  site  of  Abraham's  sacrifice.  The  afternoon  prayer 
is  said  by  each  sheikh  in  the  place  where  he  has  been  lectur- 
ing, acting  as  imam  for  his  disciples.  In  the  meantime  the 
governor  and  staff  may  have  come  in  to  attend  the  function 
of  the  khat'meh,  which  follows  upon  the  prayer.  Every 
day  one-thirtieth  part  of  the  Koran  is  chanted  by  paid  singers 
from  a  platform.  Near  by,  leaning  on  his  staff  and  holding 
a  big  Koran  in  his  lap,  sits  the  imposing  figure  of  the  chief 
guardian,  alert  to  correct  in  stentorian  tones  any  mistake 
that  may  be  made.  At  any  mention  of  prostration,  he 
ponderously  gets  up,  turns  to  the  south,  and  elaborately 
prostrates  himself,  touching  the  floor  with  his  forehead,  fol- 
lowed by  the  whole  company.  At  the  end  of  the  chanting, 
in  which  each  singer  has  taken  a  turn,  they  all  join  in  the 
words:  "The  great  God  spake  truth."  On  the  twenty- 
seventh  day  is  chanted  not  only  a  thirtieth  portion,  but  all 
that  remains,  according  to  the  usual  procedure  with  the 
khatmeh.2  When  the  last  chapter  is  finished  the  guardian 

1  See  p.  194,  foot-note. 

2  The  khatmeh,  or  recital  of  the  whole  Koran,  is  a  common  form  of 
entertaining  guests.     A  Jerusalem  Moslem  tells  me  that  it  may  be  also 
arranged  after  a  man's  death  or  on  some  anniversary  of  the  same,  by 
a  relative  of  the  deceased,  whose  soul  is  supposed  to  profit  in  the  other 
world.     A  sheikh  is  paid  for  the  reading,  the  bulk  of  which  he  may  per- 
form by  himself,  anywhere  he  pleases — at  home  or  in  the  mosque. 
The  reading  is  completed  at  the  home  of  the  man  who  employs  him, 
before  an  invited  company,   and  is  varied  by  chanting.     The  last 
twenty-three  surahs,  or  chapters,  are  read  by  the  guests,  each  taking 
his  turn  till  the  final  one  is  finished.     After  each  surah  they  all  for- 


FASTING  AND  LEGAL  ALMS  215 

brings  out  a  small  bottle  which  is  said  to  contain  the  hairs 
of  the  prophet,  grasps  it  firmly,  and  then,  guarded  by  soldiers, 
holds  it  out  to  the  people,  who  rush  up  by  hundreds  to  kiss  it. 
So  great  is  the  scramble  that  children  are  not  allowed  at  the 
ceremony.  This  concludes  the  especial  services  for  the  month 
in  the  Dome  of  the  Rock,  or  so-called  Mosque  of  'Omar. 

As  the  afternoon  of  the  last  day  of  the  fast  draws  to  a  close 
you  may  see  the  faithful  peering  anxiously  up  to  the  western 
sky  for  a  glimpse  of  the  new  moon,  whose  appearance  must 
be  reported  before  the  feast  can  be  inaugurated.  ^This 
is  the  'Id-el-Futr,  the  Feast  of  Breaking  the  Fast,  or  'Id-ez- 
Zaghir,  the  Small  Feast,  so  called  in  contrast  to  the  Great 
Feast,  or  'Id-el-Az'ha,  which  coincides  with  the  great  sacri- 
fice at  Mecca  at  the  time  of  pilgrimage.  Joy  at  having 
completed  the  fast  is  shown  in  many  ways.  In  the  mosques 
there  are  especial  prayers  and  preaching.  Men,  women, 
and  children  put  on  new  clothes.  In  the  public  places  the 
young  folk  whirl  in  merry-go-rounds  or  are  drawn  about 
in  boats  placed  on  wheels.  At  this  season  the  dead  are 
remembered  in  extended  visits  to  the  cemeteries,  which  in 
the  cities  are  crowded  with  shrouded  and  veiled  women. 
Almsgiving  is  also  especially  recommended  and  practised. 

This,  however,  is  not  that  legal  alms  (zakat')  which  con- 
stitutes the  fourth  pillar  of  religion,  but  rather  the  voluntary 
charity  (sa'daqah)  which,  in  the  East,  brings  the  benevolent 
person  so  much  credit  and  popularity.  In  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine to  be  "  karim,"  or  generous,  indeed  covers  a  multitude 
of  sins.  However,  the  system  of  legal  alms  doubtless  has  its 
roots  in  the  voluntary  charitable  impulse,  which  finds  a 
beautiful  expression  in  the  hospitality  for  which  follow- 
ers of  every  cult  in  the  near  East  are  so  famous.  The 
root-meaning  of  the  word  zakat — purification — indicates  the 
subjective  blessings  of  giving,  for  the  reference  is  to  the 
sanctification  of  the  remainder  to  the  proprietor  after  he 

mally  give  him  the  right  to  transfer  the  reading  to  the  benefit  of  the 
dead.  Then  he  pronounces  out  loud  the  transfer  of  the  reading  to 
Mohammed  and  the  other  prophets,  and  afterward,  in  a  whisper,  the 
transfer  to  the  dead  man.  The  analogy  in  general  with  masses  for  the 
dead  is  naturally  suggested. 


216  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

has  parted  with  a  portion  of  his  goods  in  alms.  It  is  a  sort 
of  religious  income  tax  levied  on  the  kinds  of  property 
which  were  owned  in  the  half-pastoral  land  of  Arabia  in  the 
seventh  century:  camels,  cattle,  sheep  and  goats,  horses, 
silver,  gold,  merchandise,  mines,  and  fruits  of  the  earth.  It 
may  be  bestowed  upon  seven  classes:  the  utterly  destitute, 
those  too  poor  to  be  taxed,  the  tax-gatherers,  slaves,  debtors, 
those  engaged  in  religious  warfare,  and  wayfarers.  The  tax 
rate,  which  in  some  cases  is  to  be  paid  in  kind,  varies  not 
only  with  the  character  but  with  the  amount  of  property. 
Fruits  of  the  earth,  with  some  exceptions  covering  conditions 
of  production  as  well  as  definitely  named  kinds,  are  taxed 
one-tenth.  It  is  estimated  that  the  rate  averages  at  one- 
fortieth  of  the  total  income.  The  zakat  may  be  paid  into 
the  hands  of  official  collectors  (still  found  in  some  Moham- 
medan countries),  but  it  is  lawful  for  the  possessor  to  dis- 
tribute his  alms  for  himself.  The  regulations  governing 
zakat,  based  upon  the  practice  of  Mohammed,  show  a  com- 
plexity of  detail  that  is  rivalled  only  by  a  modern  tariff  bill. 
No  Moslem  adult,  provided  he  is  free  and  sane,  is  exempt, 
provided  he  is  in  possession  of  a  fixed  minimum  of  taxable 
property,  and  provided  that  his  debts  are  not  equal  to  the 
amount  of  his  estate.  Zakat  is  not  due  upon  the  necessaries 
of  life,  such  as  dwelling-houses,  clothing,  furniture,  slaves 
employed  as  actual  servants,  etc.  The  following  details, 
taken  at  random,  may  be  cited  by  way  of  examples  of  the 
ramification  of  the  law.  No  zakat  is  due  upon  less  than 
five  camels,  or  thirty  cattle,  or  forty  sheep;  upon  any  num- 
ber of  camels  from  ninety-one  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  are 
levied  two  camels1  female  three-year-old  colts;  rates  between 
are  particularized  with  the  same  exactitude.  Above  one 
hundred  and  twenty  camels  the  zakat  is  calculated  by  the 
same  rule.1  Unlike  a  modern  tariff  bill  these  regulations 
have  not  been  subject  to  revision.  The  conscientious  Mo- 
hammedan of  the  new  regime  in  Turkey,  who  may  own 
shares  in  an  electric-light  company,  when  puzzling  over  his 
religious  duties  in  regard  to  the  same,  will  naturally  find  no 
positive  directions  in  the  traditions  of  the  prophet! 

1  See  Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  article  "Zakat." 


PILGRIMAGE  217 


IV.    PILGRIMAGE 

Hajj,  or  pilgrimage,  to  Mecca,  the  religious  centre  of 
Islam,  is  for  its  votaries  the  fifth  pillar  of  religion.  "This 
annual  gathering/'  says  President  Washburn,  "really  con- 
stitutes something  like  a  pan-Islamic  congress,  where  all 
the  interests  of  the  faith  are  discussed  at  length  by  repre- 
sentatives of  different  countries,  and  where  plans  are  made 
for  its  defence  and  propagation."  1  Pilgrimage  is  incumbent 
on  all  who  are  able  to  perform  it,  but  the  Moslem  doctors 
differ  as  to  what  constitutes  ability.  Among  the  conditions 
named  are  soundness  of  mind,  maturity,  health,  solvency, 
and  safety  of  the  roads.  Women  should  be  properly  es- 
corted or  chaperoned.  A  very  large  proportion  of  Mos- 
lems arrive  at  old  age  before  all  these  conditions  appear  to 
be  fulfilled.  A  Jerusalem  sheikh  estimates  that  only  ten 
per  cent  of  his  townsmen  who  have  passed  middle-age  have 
made  the  pilgrimage.  The  same  man  informed  me  that  the 
hajj  may  be  made  by  proxy  in  case  of  a  man  prevented  him- 
self by  sickness  or  age.  He  may  send  his  proxy  during  his 
lifetime  or  arrange  for  the  matter  in  his  will. 

This  ordinance  of  the  hajj  long  antedates  the  rise  of 
Islam.  So  firmly  fixed  in  the  hearts  of  the  Arabs  were  many 
of  the  customs  in  connection  with  the  worship  of  the  Black 
Stone  of  the  Ka'aba,  that  Mohammed  decided  to  retain 
them  in  as  pure  a  form  as  was  possible.  Idols  of  the  temple 
were  swept  away;  the  veneration  of  the  stone  was  retained. 
Whether  this  decision  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  compromise  with 
idolatry,  or  as  a  wise  concession  in  matters  of  secondary 
importance,  in  the  interests  of  the  consolidation  of  the 
followers  of  the  purer  faith,  depends  on  the  point  of  view. 
A  certain  parallel  exists  in  the  codification  of  the  religion  of 
Israel,  when  many  practices  common  to  all  Semitic  religions 
were  permitted,  provided  that  they  were  purified  from  every 
taint  of  polytheism. 

'See  his  article,  entitled  "The  Probable  Influence  of  the  Turkish 
Revolution  on  the  Faith  of  Islam,"  in  "Journal  of  Race  Development/' 
January,  1911,  p.  303. 


218  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

The  formal  declaration  of  performing  the  pilgrimage,  or 
hajj — essential  to  make  the  rite  effective,  as  in  the  cases  of 
prayer  and  fasting — may  be  made  as  early  as  Shawwal',  or 
the  tenth  month,  though  the  Meccan  rites  do  not  take  place 
till  the  twelfth  month,  known  as  the  Dhu-el-Hij'jah.  Till 
recently  there  have  been  three  ways  of  getting  to  Mecca 
from  Syria.  The  most  arduous  and  expensive  method  used 
to  follow  the  caravan  of  the  man'mal,  or  royal  litter,  which 
used  to  leave  Damascus  with  an  often-described  pomp,  soon 
after  the  Small  Feast.  Once  when  travelling  across  the 
treeless  highlands  to  the  east  of  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead 
Sea,  I  came  across  this  route  of  the  najj — over  one  hundred 
and  fifty  camel-paths,  now  closely  parallel,  now  running 
into  each  other.  Here  was  an  appeal  to  the  imagination! 
It  was  easy  to  people  these  desolate  tracks  with  a  vast  multi- 
tude, moving  toward  the  south  with  the  gladness  of  antici- 
pation, tinged  with  apprehension  of  the  dangers  of  attack 
from  the  Bedawin,  who  have  ever  regarded  the  pilgrims 
as  their  proper  prey;  and  later,  with  broken  ranks,  moving 
toward  the  north  with  the  sadness  of  those  who  have  left 
their  dead  in  some  strange  land  or  perchance  in  some  way- 
side grave. 

This  caravan  route  was  abandoned  in  1908,  when  the 
railway  reached  Medinah.  This  enterprise,  conceived  by 
the  infamous  'Izzet  Pacha,  is  the  only  claim  to  public  spirit 
which  that  evil  genius  of  the  old  regime  can  make.  Of  the 
four  million  Turkish  pounds  which  he  was  responsible  for 
collecting,  he  is  said  to  have  appropriated  nothing  for  him- 
self. This  large  sum  was  realized  in  the  form  of  direct  gifts 
from  the  faithful  over  all  the  world  of  Islam,  especial  stamps 
to  be  affixed  by  Moslems  to  certain  legal  documents,  and 
levies  on  the  salaries  of  Turkish  officials,  who  at  first  were 
expected  to  subscribe  one  month's  salary.  The  distance 
from  Damascus  to  Medinah  is  1301.5  kilometres,  or  about 
813  miles.  The  charge  is  twenty  paras  a  kilometre  first  class 
and  ten  paras  second  class  (about  two  cents  and  one  cent  re- 
spectively), with  an  additional  ten  francs  (or  two  dollars) 
for  each  through  passenger,  to  be  paid  to  the  Arabs  by  the 
railway  company  in  lieu  of  the  bakshish,  or  blackmail,  they 


PILGRIMAGE  219 

used  to  get  from  the  caravan.  These  sons  of  the  desert  still 
occasionally  express  their  resentment  at  the  invasion  of 
their  territory  by  tearing  up  the  rails.  While  the  work  was 
proceeding  it  was  unsafe  for  the  engineers  to  wander  half 
a  mile  from  the  line.  "  I  was  able  to  explore  farther  afield 
than  the  rest,"  said  to  me  a  Moslem  engineer  bearing  a 
name  famous  in  early  Arab  history,  who  was  employed  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  of  construction,  "  because  of  the  respect 
for  my  family  name,  but  I  took  my  life  in  my  hand  all  the 
time."  To  push  the  railway  over  the  250  miles  between 
Medinah  and  Mecca  will  furnish  a  still  more  difficult  prob- 
lem, as  the  Arab  cameleers  who  for  centuries  have  conducted 
pilgrims  between  the  two  holy  cities,  will  not  submit  qui- 
etly to  the  cutting  off  of  their  means  of  livelihood.  The 
first  year  of  railway  traffic,  however,  must  have  been  a  jubi- 
lee season  to  them,  for  it  brought  to  Medinah  some  fifteen 
thousand  pilgrims  (transported  in  ten  trains  a  day  for  a 
week  or  more),  as  over  against  seven  thousand  or  eight  thou- 
sand who  formerly  joined  the  caravan.  Non-Moslem  travel- 
lers may  journey  as  far  as  Ma'an,  on  their  way  to  Petra,  but 
Medinah  remains  as  inaccessible  to  them  as  it  was  before 
the  extension  of  the  railway.  In  fact  all  railway  employees, 
at  least  beyond  Ma'an,  must  be  Moslems.  Many  pilgrims 
who  went  last  year  by  train  returned  by  sea  from  the  port 
of  Jeddah.  This  Red  Sea  route  is  still  the  most  popular 
for  the  double  journey. 

On  every  route  there  is  arranged  a  halt  at  the  last  station 
before  Mecca  where  the  pilgrim's  garb  should  be  assumed: 
for  the  man,  two  sheets  of  white  cotton  cloth,  sometimes 
fringed  and  striped  with  red;  one  to  be  thrown  over  the 
back,  leaving  one  arm  and  shoulder  bare,  the  other  to  be 
wrapped  about  the  loins,  falling  over  the  legs.  Sandals  may 
be  worn,  but  not  shoes.  The  head  must  be  shaved  and 
then  kept  uncovered  during  the  pilgrimage.  The  woman 
is  shrouded  in  a  great  sheet,  much  like  her  ordinary  outer 
covering,  but  in  place  of  the  veil  is  a  hideous  mask,  made 
of  dried  palm-leaves  with  two  holes  for  the  eyes.  To  the 
higher-class  Moslem,  trained  in  the  dignified  traditions 
of  Islam,  accustomed  to  the  simple  and  stately  ritual  of 


220  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

the  mosque,  seeing  under  the  elaborate  ceremonial  of  ablu- 
tion and  purification  a  sane  law  of  hygiene,  holding  the 
ecstasies  and  professed  miracles  of  the  dervishes  to  be  a  blot 
on  religion,  the  week  or  ten  days  which  he  must  spend  in  or 
near  Mecca,  in  the  performance  of  the  requirements  of 
pilgrimage — rites  so  trivial,  so  undignified,  so  revolting  to 
good  taste  that  Palgrave  may  well  speak  of  them  as  "a 
strange,  unmeaning  shroud  around  the  living  theism  of 
Islam" — these  must  bring  in  their  train  little  but  disillusion 
and  disgust.  On  entering  Mecca,  after  drinking  of  the 
nauseous  water  of  the  well  Zem-Zem,  which  was  discovered 
to  Hagar  by  the  angel,  he  must  perform  the  tawaf',  or  seven- 
fold circumambulation  of  the  Ka'aba.  This  cubical  struct- 
ure, called  the  Beit  Al'lah,  or  House  of  God,  to  be  described 
later,  rises  in  the  centre  of  the  court-yard  of  the  Great 
Mosque,  or  Mas'jid-el-Haram'.  Four  times  he  must  walk 
around  slowly,  and  four  times  at  a  trot,  unless  the  order  is 
reversed,  as  was  done  by  Burton,  who  followed  the  instruc- 
tions of  his  cicerone.1  It  is  also  expected  of  the  pilgrim  that 
he  repeat  certain  ordained  prayers  at  different  stations  of 
the  route,  and  that  he  fervently  press  his  body  against  the 
Ka'aba,  and  kiss  the  Sacred  Black  Stone  at  the  south-east 
corner.  On  the  same  day  he  should  perform  the  sai,  or 
sevenfold  traversal  of  the  distance  between  the  little  hills 
dignified  by  the  name  of  the  mountains  of  Sa'fa  and  Mer'- 
wah.  For  part  of  each  course  he  must  run  and  for  part  he 
must  walk,  to  show,  so  some  say,  the  bewilderment  felt  by 
Hagar  when  in  search  of  water. 

These  rites  are  but  preliminary  to  the  real  hajj,  which 

1  Our  account  mainly  follows  Burton's  personal  experiences,  in  1853, 
during  his  famous  visit  to  the  sacred  cities,  in  the  disguise  of  a  Moslem. 
See  the  memorial  edition  of  his  work:  "Personal  Narrative  of  a  Pil- 
grimage to  Al-Medinah  and  Meccah,"  by  Captain  Sir  Richard  F.  Bur- 
ton, two  volumes.  (London,  1893.)  Very  few  Christians  have  visited 
Mecca,  and  then  only  in  disguise,  at  the  risk  of  discovery  and  death. 
The  Spanish  Christian,  Badia  y  Leblich,  preserved  his  disguise  even  in 
his  book,  entitled:  "The  Travels  of  Ali  Bey  el  Abbassi  in  Morocco, 
Tripoli,  Cyprus,  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Turkey  between  the  Years  1803  and 
1807."  (London  and  Philadelphia,  1816.)  Burckhardt's  careful  obser- 
vations were  made  in  1814. 


PILGRIMAGE  221 

covers  only  three  days — the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  of  Dhu- 
el-Hijjah.  Accordingly,  early  on  the  eighth  of  the  month 
the  pilgrim  starts  on  his  twelve-mile  journey  to  the  Mount 
of  Blessing,  or  Mount  'Arafat,  famed  for  the  reunion  of 
Adam  and  Eve,  who  had  been  separated  on  their  expulsion 
from  paradise.  As  practically  the  whole  local  population 
joins  the  procession,  the  real  hajj  might  well  be  called  a 
pilgrimage  from  Mecca;  indeed,  the  main  features  occur  at 
'Arafat  and  at  Mu'na,  or  Mi'na,  which  is  three  miles  from 
the  sacred  city.  The  hill  itself  is  about  two  hundred  feet 
high,  and  about  one  mile  in  circumference  at  its  base. 
Burton  relates  that  when  the  pilgrims  entered  the  precincts 
of  the  plain  of  'Arafat,  in  sight  of  the  holy  hill,  they  broke 
out,  all  together,  into  the  pilgrim's  cry,  constantly  raised 
during  these  days,  "Labbayk',  Allahum'ma,  Labbayk'!" 

"  Here  am  I!     Here  am  I — 
No  partner  hast  Thou,  here  am  I; 

Verily  the  praise  and  the  grace  are  Thine,  and  the  empire — 
No  partner  hast  Thou,  here  am  I!  " 

The  night  of  this  first  day — the  Yaum-et-Tarwi'hah — may 
be  spent  either  near  'Arafat  or  at  Muna. 

The  second  day  of  the  hajj  is  called  Yaum  'Arafat.  The 
noon  and  afternoon  prayers,  condensed  and  joined  together, 
are  said  at  the  Masjid  (place  of  worship)  of  Abraham  on 
the  mountain,  and  then  follows  the  waquf,  or  "standing 
on  'Arafat,"  where  the  army  of  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of 
the  Moslem  world  take  their  places  to  listen  to  the  three- 
hour  sermon,  preached  by  the  khatib,  who  is  seated  on  a 
dromedary,  near  the  summit  of  the  hill.  What  an  audience ! 
Burton,  in  1853,  estimated  fifty  thousand,  including  some 
ten  thousand  Meccans.  The  estimate  for  1880  is  ninety- 
three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty.  The  favorite  posi- 
tion for  listening  is  on  the  lower  slopes,  but,  of  course,  such 
numbers  must  be  spread  over  the  plain.  The  sermon  is 
punctuated  by  sobs  and  cries,  and  shrieks  of  "Labbayk," 
from  the  vast  audience,  for  it  is  supposed  to  be  a  time  for 
weeping.  At  sunset  begins  the  terrible  "hurry  from  'Ara- 
fat." It  is  part  of  the  ceremony  to  cover  the  three  miles 


222  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

between  the  mountain  and  Muzda'lifah,  where  the  night  is 
to  be  spent,  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  Riders  and  pedes- 
trians start  off  at  full  speed.  The  mad  rush  degenerates 
into  a  chaotic  confusion,  in  which  pilgrims  may  be  trampled 
under  foot,  and  even  camels  are  overthrown. 
^  The  third  day  of  the  hajj,  called  Yaum-el-Nahr,  also 
Td-el-Qurban,1  is  celebrated  over  all  Islam  as  the  Great 
Feast,  or  Td-el-Az'ha.  In  Turkey  and  Egypt  it  is  popularly 
known  as  Bairam.  The  sacrifices  made  that  day  at  Muna 
commemorate  the  vicarious  sacrifice  of  Abraham — popularly 
connected  with  the  name  of  Ishmael,  notwithstanding  that 
the  Koran  plainly  refers  to  Isaac  as  the  intended  victim. 
The  festival  prayers,  called  by  Burton  "  the  great  solemnity 
of  the  Moslem  year,"  are  supposed  to  be  performed  by  the 
whole  community  at  break  of  day  at  Muzdalifah.  Here 
each  pilgrim  should  collect  seven  pebbles,  to  be  hurled  later 
at  the  Muna  monument  called  the  Great  Devil.  Burton 
reports  that  the  mob  of  stone-throwers  was  so  densely  packed 
that  a  man  might  have  walked  over  their  heads.  Attempt- 
ing to  get  through  the  crowd  of  fighting  men  and  rearing 
horses,  he  escaped  from  being  trampled  only  by  a  "  judicious 
use  of  the  knife."  Then  may  follow  the  sacrifice  of  animals — 
a  camel,  an  ox,  a  sheep,  according  to  the  man's  station. 
The  beast's  head  being  turned  toward  the  Ka'aba,  the  pil- 
grim usually  cuts  the  throat  himself.  The  sacrifice,  how- 
ever, is  not  obligatory,  being  "sunnah,"  or  based  on  the 
practice  of  the  prophet,  and  as  a  substitute  one  may  fast  ten 
days.  In  Burton's  time  hardly  more  than  ten  per  cent  seem 
to  have  sacrificed,  as  he  estimated  the  slaughtered  animals 
at  between  five  and  six  thousand.  The  flesh  falls  to  the  lot 
of  the  poor.  On  this  third  day,  either  before  or  after  the 
sacrifice,  many  pilgrims  hasten  to  Mecca — this  trip  is  called 
the  "flight" — for  another  circumambulation  of  the  Ka'aba, 
and  perhaps  a  visit  to  the  interior. 

According  to  tradition,  many  have  been  the  vicissitudes 
of  this  Beit  Allah,  or  House  of  God.  The  first  structure, 
erected  by  Adam,  from  a  model  existing  in  heaven,  having 
been  destroyed  by  the  deluge,  was  rebuilt  by  Abraham  with 

1  QuiMn  means  offering. 


PILGRIMAGE  223 

the  help  of  Ishmael.  To  the  latter  the  angel  Gabriel  gave 
a  stone  (originally  white,  but  later  made  black  by  the  sins 
of  the  people)  to  mark  the  corner.  This  is  described  as 
an  aerolite,  some  seven  inches  across,  in  shape  an  irregular 
oval,  inserted  in  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Ka'aba,  four  or 
five  feet  from  the  ground.  The  building  itself  is  a  large 
cube,  measuring  eighteen  paces  by  fourteen  and  about 
thirty-five  feet  high.  The  present  construction  dates  from 
1627,  the  previous  building  having  been  overthrown  by  a 
flood.  But  this  was  only  one  of  many  reconstructions  since 
the  time  of  Abraham,  not  the  least  important  taking  place 
when  the  grandfather  of  Mohammed  was  its  custodian.  The 
first  man  to  surround  it  with  a  mosque  was  the  caliph  'Omar. 
It  is  protected  by  the  kis'weh,  a  huge  black  covering,  a  mixt- 
ure of  cotton  and  silk,  interwoven  with  seven  chapters  of 
the  Koran,  which  are  legible  from  a  distance.  A  verse 
from  the  book  is  also  found  on  the  golden  band  which  runs 
around  the  kisweh.  This  covering,  brought  from  Cairo  by 
especial  caravan,  is  renewed  every  year  at  the  time  of  the 
hajj.  There  is  little  to  see  inside  this  celebrated  building 
beyond  a  pretty  pavement  and  some  good  tapestries,  but 
the  guardians  are  very  importunate.  Burton,  who  left 
seven  dollars  behind  him,  was  congratulated,  when  he 
emerged,  on  having  escaped  with  his  skin.  Shut  up  in  the 
close,  windowless  room,  encircled  by  the  fierce,  extortionate 
Meccans,  he  had  felt  like  a  rat  in  a  trap. 

The  night  of  this  third  day  the  pilgrim  usually  spends  at 
Muna.  After  the  sacrifice,  or  after  the  ceremony  of  stoning, 
in  case  he  does  not  sacrifice,  he  resumes  his  ordinary  dress, 
and  may  once  more  have  his  hair  cut,  his  head  shaved,  and 
his  nails  pared.  The  next  three  days,  called  Ayyam'-et- 
Tashrik',  or  the  days  of  drying  flesh  (a  horrible  commentary 
on  the  sanitary  conditions  after  the  holocaust),  should  be 
spent  at  Muna.  Each  day  the  pilgrim  should  throw  seven 
stones  at  each  of  the  three  pillars  called  devils.  Then  Muna, 
suddenly  deserted  of  its  teeming  population,  resumes  its  or- 
dinary deserted  appearance  for  another  year.  Before  leav- 
ing Mecca  the  pilgrim  drinks  once  more  from  the  well  Zem- 
Zem,  again  makes  the  circumambulation  of  the  Ka'aba,  and 


224  THE  FIVE  PILLARS  OF  ISLAM 

bids  a  formal  adieu  to  the  sacred  haram.  He  is  forbid- 
den to  take  away  cakes  of  earth  from  the  dust  of  the  mosque, 
as  the  practice  is  supposed  to  savor  of  idolatry.  How- 
ever, it  is  common  among  the  ignorant,  who  also  take  home 
to  their  friends  water  from  the  Zem-Zem.  When  word 
comes  to  his  native  town  that  a  pilgrim  is  returning  from 
Mecca,  a  large  crowd  goes  out  to  escort  him  in  with  banners 
and  music.  When  the  new  hajj,  or  pilgrim,  as  he  is  thence- 
forth called,  reaches  his  home,  the  following  ceremony  often 
takes  place:  A  sheep  is  stretched  outside  his  door,  or  even 
over  the  threshold,  with  its  head  toward  Mecca;  as  the  pil- 
grim steps  over  it,  the  animal  is  killed  so  that  the  blood  runs 
between  his  feet.  This  sheep  may  be  presented  by  a  friend 
who  has  vowed  it  in  case  of  the  pilgrim's  safe  return.  A 
similar  practice  is  not  unknown  among  Christian  peasants 
on  the  return  of  a  pilgrim  from  Jerusalem.1  Moslems  also 
may  practise  it  in  case  of  a  safe  return  from  any  journey. 

1  This  fact  was  gathered  by  Rev.  Samuel  Ives  Curtiss  during  his  last 
journey.    See  Preface. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

OUR  last  chapter  furnished  abundant  illustration  of  the 
formalism  and  rigidity  of  the  religious  system  of  Islam,  as 
expressed  in  its  doctrine  and  ritual,  and  as  incarnated  in  its 
'ulama,  or  doctors  of  the  law.  These  elements  were  felt  in 
the  earliest  years,  hence  in  the  earliest  years  was  developed 
sufiism  (tasaw'waf),  which  in  its  relations  to  Islam  may 
be  briefly  characterized  as  an  attempt  to  express  the  spirit- 
ual and  mystical  side  of  the  new  religious  movement.1  The 
principles  of  sufiism,  however,  so  far  antedate  the  rise  of 
Islam  that  their  influence  may  be  traced  back  through  the 
later  Alexandrian  School  to  Persia,  and  finally  to  their  ori- 
gin in  Indian  mysticism.  As,  logically,  these  principles  tend 
toward  pantheism,  they  would  seem  to  be  irreconcilable 
with  the  strict  monotheism  of  Islam,  but,  as  has  often  been 
pointed  out,  logical  inconsistency  does  not  disturb  the  East- 
ern mind  as  it  does  the  Western.  He  who  would  follow 
sufiism  aims  by  certain  religious  practices  to  attain  such  a 
condition  of  moral  purity  that  he  may  see  God  face  to  face 
and  become  united  to  Him.  This,  then,  is  the  end  of  sufiism, 
but  to  this  end  lead  many  ways.  Indeed,  it  is  by  the  name 
of  the  ways  that  the  religious  orders,  at  least  eighty-eight  in 
number,  which  have  sprung  from  the  sufi  idea,  are  known 
to  their  votaries.  Agreeing  in  the  same  body  of  principles, 
they  differ  in  particulars  of  organization  and  practice.  All 
acknowledge  the  ba'raka,  or  blessing,  divine  spark  trans- 

1  Many  derivations  have  been  suggested  for  the  word  sufi,  or  mystic, 
but  it  probably  refers  to  the  "suf,"  or  wool,  with  which  the  early  fol- 
lowers of  the  doctrine  clothed  themselves. 

225 


226       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

mitted  from  the  founder  through  unbroken  chains  of  saints, 
by  means  of  the  ward  (pronounced  ouard),  or  initiation, 
and  made  effective  by  the  discipline  of  the  zikr,  or  calling 
upon  the  name  of  God,  according  to  various  formulas.  The 
followers  of  the  ways,  or  dervishes,1  as  they  are  called  in 
Turkey,  have  the  same  aim  as  have  the  'ulama,  or  doctors 
of  the  law,  to  know  the  will  of  God,  but  while  the  latter  ex- 
pound this  will  as  revealed  exclusively  in  a  book,  the  former 
strive  to  find  it  also  in  their  own  hearts  when  these  shall  have 
been  purged  and  purified.  It  is  customary  for  Western 
writers  to  emphasize  an  antagonism  between  the  two  classes. 
In  the  nature  of  things  this  is  bound  to  exist,  but  I  have  not 
found  in  Syria  and  Palestine  traces  of  that  bitter  enmity 
which  appears,  for  example,  in  North  Africa  and  India. 
The  Syrian  'ulama  may  themselves  be  dervishes.  A  recent 
candidate  for  the  office  of  mufti  in  Beyrout,  or  legal  and 
religious  adviser,  is  the  chief  local  sheikh  of  the  dervish 
order  of  the  Shaziliyeh,  whose  doctrines  are  supposed  to 
verge  on  pantheism.  As  far  as  the  ordinary  Moslems  are 
concerned,  these  orders  or  ways  exert  a  far  more  vital  in- 
fluence than  does  the  body  of  'ulama.  "Notwithstanding 
this  hierarchical  organization,"  say  Depont  and  Coppolani, 
our  great  authorities  on  the  orders,  "the  real  force  of  the 
Mohammedan  world  lies  in  a  power  apart,  a  mysterious 
sphere,  deriving  its  almost  incredible  prestige  from  an 
authority  whose  might  differs  from  that  of  the  'ulama, 
since,  in  the  eyes  of  the  believers,  it  emanates  from  Divinity 
itself."  2 

The  dervish  orders  thus  trace  their  origin  to  the  earliest 
days  of  Islam.  Soon  after  the  Hegira,  or  flight  to  Medinah, 
there  were  founded  by  Abu  Bekr  and  'Ali,  respectively, 
two  fraternities,  whose  members  were  bound  together  by 
vows  to  hold  all  things  in  common  and  to  perform  certain 
religious  exercises.  A  Syrian  dervish  sheikh  explained  to 
me  that  a  community  of  goods  was  a  practical  necessity 

1  The  word  dervish  is  derived  from  a  Persian  word  signifying  a  men- 
dicant seeking  doors. 

2 "  Les  Conf re"ries  Religieuses  Musulmanes,  par  Octave  Depont  et 
Xavier  Coppolani,"  Introduction,  ix  (Alger,  1897). 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  HAGIOLOGY          227 

arising  from  the  utter  destitution  of  the  members  who  in 
their  flight  had  left  all  behind  them.  Abu  Bekr  and  'Ali 
each  appointed  a  successor  called  a  khall'fy,  who  in  turn 
passed  on  the  succession.  Later  on  disintegration  set  in, 
with  a  consequent  weakening  of  the  organisms,  but  "the 
way,"  or  essence  of  doctrine  and  practice,  was  handed  on 
from  individual  to  individual,  so  that  in  every  period  of  its 
history  Islam  has  been  permeated  with  brethren  recognizing 
each  other  by  secret  signs  and  grips.  From  time  to  time 
there  arose,  among  these,  great  teachers,  who  by  sheer  force 
of  personality  attracted  a  band  of  followers,  but  with  their 
death  these  followers  usually  fell  away,  becoming  merged 
in  the  unorganized  body  of  sufis,  or  mystics.  Reorganiza- 
tion into  distinct  orders,  which  continue  to  be  a  power  to-day, 
began  in  the  twelfth  century  with  the  great  'Abd-el-Qa/dir- 
ej-Jila'ni.1  The  bodies  chiefly  represented  in  Syria  and 
Palestine  date  from  the  twelfth  to  the  fifteenth  century. 
Diplomas  accrediting  the  sheikhs  of  these  orders  contain 
an  unbroken  chain  of  names,  beginning  with  the  holder, 
first  running  back  to  the  founder  of  the  order  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  then  through  the  earlier  centuries  to  Abu  Bekr  or 
to  'Ali.  Thus  the  essential  unity  of  all  these  orders  is 
acknowledged.  They  have  accordingly  been  likened  to 
the  various  sects  of  Protestantism.  Powerful  organizations, 
now  prominent  in  North  Africa,  have  originated  in  modern 
times. 

I.    THE  MOHAMMEDAN  HAGIOLOGY 

On  one  of  its  sides  the  study  of  the  religious  orders  of 
Islam  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  larger  study  of  the  saints 
of  Islam.  Each  founder  of  a  way  or  order  is  now  regarded 
as  a  saint,  or  we'ly,  that  is,  a  friend  of  God,  because,  like  other 
great  welies  each  was  supposed  to  have  a  secret  from  God.2 

1  The  principles  of  organization  appear  to  have  originated  with 
Sheikh  Alwan  who  founded  the  Alwaniyeh  in  the  year  766  A.  D.,  but 
the  order  is  not  counted  to-day  among  the  powerful  and  widely  ex- 
tended fraternities. 

3  Wely  is  the  name  applied  to  a  saint  after  his  death. 


228        THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

As  welies  they  have  an  influence  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
their  particular  followings.  These  founders  of  orders  do 
not  number  one  hundred,  but  the  welies  in  general  are  count- 
less. Their  shrines  are  scattered  over  the  Mohammedan 
world.  In  their  cult  may  be  found  a  very  practical  modifica- 
tion of  the  pure  monotheism  of  Islam.  Hence  a  prelimi- 
nary word  about  the  doctrine  of  the  saints  is  in  place.  The 
hagiology  of  Islam  forms  an  immense  subject.  The  late 
Dr.  Samuel  Ives  Curtiss  found  a  book  in  the  library  of  the 
great  mosque  in  Aleppo  giving  the  names  of  two  hundred 
and  ninety-one  saints  of  that  place  alone.1  Shrines  are 
dedicated  to  the  prophets  (most  of  whom  also  appear  in 
the  Jewish  and  Christian  scriptures) ;  to  the  companions  of 
Mohammed;  to  the  founders  of  orders;  to  other  characters 
famous  in  Moslem  history;  and  finally,  to  a  multitude  of 
holy  men,  local  and  obscure,  some  of  whom  may  have  been 
forgotten  Christian  saints!  For  the  uneducated  Moslem, 
whether  peasant  or  dweller  in  the  town,  the  cult  of  the 
shrines  is  as  vital  as  are  the  five  pillars  or  ordinances  of 
religion:  confession  of  the  creed,  prayer,  fasting,  alms, 
and  pilgrimage.  For  some  it  would  seem  to  be  more  vital. 
"Saints"  were  often  sufis,  or  seekers  after  union  with  God, 
but  in  the  cult  of  their  shrines  the  pure  sufi  idea  is  obscured 
and  distorted.  The  'ulama,  quoting  the  example  of  the 
caliph  'Omar,  who  ordered  the  felling  of  a  tree  under  which 
Mohammed  used  to  meet  his  followers,  lest  it  become  an 
object  of  idolatrous  veneration,  denounce  the  cult,  which 
is  built  on  the  practice  of  making  and  paying  vows  to  welies. 
Vows,  they  teach,  should  be  paid  to  God  alone.  The  more 
intelligent  of  the  common  people  justify  the  cult  on  the 
ground  that  while  the  vows  are  made  to  God,  these  may  be 
paid  at  some  particular  shrine  whose  wely  is  especially 
beloved  of  God.  The  cult,  indeed,  exalts  holiness.  The 
object,  however,  is  not  to  secure  personal  holiness  by  direct 
communion  with  God,  but  to  turn  to  personal  account  the 
holiness  of  the  wely.  The  cult  of  saints  has  much  the 

1  Other  valuable  information  contained  in  this  section  comes  from 
the  journals  of  Dr.  Curtiss,  some  of  which  are  now  used  for  the  first 
time.  See  Preface. 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  HAGIOLOGY          229 

same  history  in  every  religion.  The  ignorant  Moslems 
vow  to  the  wely  directly,  in  the  belief  that  he  may  turn  from 
them  some  evil  directed  against  them  by  God  himself. 
In  any  case  the  welies  are  sought  in  time  of  trouble.  If 
there  were  no  trouble,  so  naively  argues  the  peasant,  there 
would  be  no  need  of  the  welies.  To  the  shrines  flock  bar- 
ren women,  yearning  for  children,  and  there  are  brought 
the  sick,  the  paralytic,  and  the  possessed  or  insane  to  receive 
direct  benefit  from  the  holy  influence  of  the  welies  whose 
spirits  are  supposed  to  inhabit  the  shrines.  So  deeply  im- 
bedded is  the  cult  that,  notwithstanding  the  teaching  of  the 
'ulama,  shrines  are  even  found  connected  with  mosques, 
sometimes  occupying  the  chief  place.  Even  at  the  great 
mosque  at  Damascus,  where  the  three  shrines  are  subsid- 
iary, people  fulfil  their  vows  of  sheep  by  slaughtering  these 
at  the  north  side  of  the  court  around  the  pool.  Official 
Islam  recognizes  sacrifices  on  but  two  occasions:  first  on 
the  third  day  of  the  Mecca  pilgrimage,  when  bloody  sacri- 
fices commemorative  of  Abraham's  consent  to  offer  up  his 
son  are  permitted,  not  only  at  Muna,  but  all  through  the 
Mohammedan  world;1  and,  in  the  second  place,  on  the 
birth  of  a  child,  when  it  is  incumbent  on  the  parent  to  offer 
a  dedicatory  and  eucharistic  animal  sacrifice.  Sacrifices, 
however,  play  an  important  though  unauthorized  r6le  in 
the  payment  of  vows  at  shrines.  The  placing  of  the  blood 
upon  the  forehead  of  the  one  on  behalf  of  whom  the  vow  is 
made,  indicating  to  Dr.  Curtiss  a  substitutionary  character 
lacking  in  the  above  instances,  appears  to  be  confined,  as  a 
rule,  to  the  rural  districts;  the  "sacrifices"  in  the  towns  tak- 
ing more  the  form  of  alms  given  to  the  poor.2 

1  See  p.  222. 

2  The  latest  note-books  of  Dr.  Curtiss  contain  additional  material 
touching  on  these  questions,  which  he  did  not  live  to  systematize. 
The  whole  subject  of  "sacrifice"  in  Arabic-speaking  lands  is  compli- 

cated by  the  fact  that  the  same  verb  ^3  is  used  both  for  ceremonial 
killing  and  for  the  ordinary  killing  of  animals  by  the  butcher;  and  that 


the  same  noun  aLsXJ  j>  is  used  for  an  animal  killed  for  food  and  for  a 
slain  offering.     In  lands  where  meat  does  not  form  part  of  the  daily 


230       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

But  bloody  sacrifices  are  only  a  small  part  of  the  system 
of  vows  which  includes  not  only  products  of  the  earth,  costly 
handkerchiefs  and  carpets,  but  the  promising  of  girls  to  the 
descendant  of  some  noted  saint.  One  powerful  wely,  Sidna 
'AH,  near  Jaffa,  is  reputed  to  be  able  to  attract  to  himself 
votive  offerings  of  grapes,  wheat,  or  bread,  thus  saving  the 
trouble  of  a  journey  to  the  one  vowing!1 

Materially  considered,  the  shrines  are  of  many  kinds, 
ranging  from  a  rude  circle  of  stones  around  an  ordinary  flat 
grave,  under  an  oak  tree,  to  a  costly  mausoleum  with  one  or 
more  domes.  It  should  not  be  necessary  to  emphasize  the 
fact  that  while  the  cult  is  contrary  to  a  strict  interpretation 
of  the  Koran,  it  does  not  tolerate  any  semblance  of  an  image. 
Within  a  built  shrine  are  to  be  found  only  a  mihrab,  or 
prayer-niche,  directed  toward  the  south,  a  lamp  or  lamps, 
and  often  a  pitcher  of  water  for  the  pilgrim.  Visitors  often  tie 
rags  on  the  window  of  the  building,  or  even  on  a  tree,  merely 
in  memory  of  their  visit.  Sometimes  the  shrines  are  un- 
guarded, though  the  power  of  the  wely  prevents  the  theft  of 
votive  offerings.  But  each  important  shrine  has  its  ser- 
vant; the  more  important  may  have  several.  Among  the 


diet  any  event  of  importance — such  as  a  circumcision,  a  wedding,  the 
arrival  of  a  guest,  the  building  of  a  house,  a  meeting  for  reconciliation, 
the  return  of  pilgrims,  the  payment  of  vows,  even  in  modern  times 
the  opening  of  a  railway — is  especially  signalized  by  a  "killing."  In 
some  instances  the  ceremonial  or  religious  element  in  the  act  clearly 
predominates;  in  others  a  purely  utilitarian  or  social  element  ob- 
tains; in  still  others  the  two  elements  appear  to  be  held  in  balance; 
while  in  a  large  number  of  cases  it  requires  delicate  discrimination  on 
the  part  of  the  investigator  to  decide  whether  the  ceremonial  element 
enters  at  all  into  the  consciousnness  of  the  one  "killing."  The  whole 
subject  still  awaits  further  study.  Dr.  Curtiss,  in  his  "Primitive  Se- 
mitic Religion  To-day,"  does  not  appear  to  have  fully  realized  the  utili- 
tarian use  of  the  word. 

1  See  article  entitled  "Orders  of  Holy  Men  in  Palestine,"  pp.  22-38, 
by  P.  J.  Baldensperger,  found  in  the  "  Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Pal- 
estine Exploration  Fund  for  1894";  this  citation  is  from  p.  33.  The 
whole  article  is  a  storehouse  of  practical  information  regarding  our 
subject,  based  on  intimate  personal  experience,  as  the  author  was  born 
in  Palestine  and  lived  among  the  fellahln.  The  material,  though  not 
well  systematized,  is  of  the  highest  value. 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  HAGIOLOGY          231 

duties  are  the  lighting  of  the  lamp  on  Thursdays  and  the  re- 
ception of  pilgrims.  Sometimes  the  office  is  hereditary,  and 
may  be  in  the  line  of  the  wely's  own  family.  In  any  case  it 
is  profitable,  for  the  servant  has  a  share  in  the  vowed  sacri- 
fices and  other  votive  offerings.  Well  known  to  Syrian 
folk-lore  is  the  story  satirizing  the  holders  of  this  office,  as 
well  as  the  easy  manufacture  of  new  saints.  The  servant 
of  a  popular  shrine  sent  his  attendant  off  to  seek  his  fort- 
une with  a  few  provisions  and  a  donkey.  The  young  man 
lost  his  way,  his  food  gave  out,  his  donkey  died  and  was 
buried  in  the  sand.  While  he  was  lamenting,  the  leader  of 
a  passing  caravan  demanded  the  cause  of  his  grief.  "  It  is 
that  I  have  no  means  wherewithal  to  build  a  tomb  over  the 
grave  of  a  great  saint  that  I  have  just  discovered."  Much 
moved,  the  caravan  leader  left  a  generous  gift.  Thus  en- 
couraged, the  youth  repeated  his  tale  with  such  substantial 
results  that  he  was  enabled  to  erect  a  handsome  shrine. 
Many  years  after,  to  this  wely,  now  become  rich  and  fa- 
mous, travelled  the  former  master,  who,  unexpectedly  rec- 
ognizing his  old  servant,  begged  for  the  truth  as  to  the 
origin  of  this  mysterious  saint.  Under  seal  of  confidence 
this  was  revealed.  "  But,"  added  the  servant  of  the  new 
shrine,  "confidence  for  confidence,  tell  me  now,  O  master, 
what  was  the  origin  of  the  saint  at  thy  shrine?"  The  old 
sheikh  stroked  his  beard  for  a  moment,  and  then  answered : 
"Wullah!  It  was  the  father  of  thy  donkey!" 

The  term  wely  is  used  not  only  for  the  dead  saint,  but 
for  his  place  of  burial  or  commemoration.  Like  the  Chris- 
tian monasteries,  the  Moslem  shrines  often  dominate  the 
landscape.  Some  of  them  with  a  reputation  as  wide  as  the 
Moslem  world  attract  pilgrims  from  distant  lands.  Some 
radiate  their  influence  over  a  limited  area,  where,  indeed,  they 
are  supreme.  When  encamped  near  the  shrine  of  the  Falujy, 
in  southern  Palestine,  I  found  that  my  local  workmen,  who 
thought  little  of  forswearing  themselves  by  the  Almighty, 
would  tell  the  truth  if  conjured  by  the  Falujy.  In  case  of 
theft,  suspects  were  cross-examined  at  his  shrine  as  it  was 
believed  he  would  cause  to  spit  blood  those  who  denied  their 
guilt.  For  the  welies  are  considered  as  persons  still  living, 


232        THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

arid,  on  occasion,  mingling  with  men.  The  personality  of 
the  Khudr,  the  Ever-Living  One,  of  whose  synthesis  with 
Elijah  and  Saint  George  we  have  spoken  before,1  may  be  said 
to  permeate  the  Holy  Land.  Sometimes  the  welies  hold 
direct  communication  with  the  living.  Baldensperger  tells 
of  a  certain  Sheikh  'Othman,  who  at  the  command  of  the 
Sultan  Bedr,  his  long-dead  ancestor,  natural  as  well  as  spir- 
itual, remained  dumb  for  a  number  of  years,  in  order  that 
he  might  keep  from  sin,  refusing  to  utter  a  word  till  the 
saint  withdrew  the  injunction.2  Sometimes  the  welies  take 
strange  incarnations.  The  same  writer  relates  another  curi- 
ous story  of  Sultan  Bedr.  "When  Ibrahim  Pasha  was 
ruler  of  Palestine,  he  took  away  many  lands  belonging  to 
welies  and  such  holy  men,  but  when  he  sent  soldiers  to  take 
Deir-esh-Sheikh,  a  swarm  of  bees  kept  them  back.  Then 
they  knew  that  these  bees  were  no  other  than  Sultan  Bedr 
defending  his  abode."  3 

We  have  already  pointed  out  how  intimately  the  subjects 
of  the  religious  orders  and  of  the  shrines  interpenetrate. 
Both  belong  to  the  same  world  of  miracle  and  magic,  as  real 
to  the  peasant  as  the  veritable,  material  earth.  The  Khudr 
to  whom  there  are  raised  in  Syria  and  Palestine  more  shrines 
than  to  any  other  wely,  is  said  to  impart  the  baraka,  or 
miraculous  power,  to  founders  of  the  orders.  The  folk-lore 
of  the  land  abounds  in  tales  of  these,  especially  of  'Abd-el- 
Qadir  ej-Jilani,  Ahmed  er-Refa'i,  Ahmed  el-Bedawy,  and 
Ibrahim  ed-Dusuki,  whose  names  are  attached  to  the  orders 
respectively  founded  by  each,  and  who  are  linked  together 
as  the  four  poles,  living  on  the  four  sides  of  the  earth,  which 
they  uphold.  They  are  also  likened  to  four  trees,  the  rest 
of  the  welies  being  mere  branches.  Of  them  pre-existence  is 
predicated.  Though  born  in  the  Middle  Ages,  they  are  said 
to  have  lived  in  the  spirit  before  Mohammed.  The  tombs 
of  all  founders  are  most  important  shrines,  not  only  for  the 
members  of  the  orders,  but  for  all  who  are  in  trouble.  The 
most  notable  is  the  tomb  of  'Abd-el-Qadir  ej-Jilani,  in  Bagh- 
dad, but  Syria,  too,  possesses  the  shrine  of  a  popular  founder. 

1  See  p.  10. 

2  See  Baldensperger's  article  (op.  cit.},  p.  35.  8  Ibid. 


THE   MOHAMMEDAN   HAGIOLOGY          233 

At  Jeba,  a  few  miles  north  of  Damascus,  is  the  tomb  of 
Sa'ad-ed-Din,  the  founder  of  the  Sa'adiyeh  order  of  der- 
vishes, a  derivative  of  the  Qadiriyeh,  and  known  also  as  the 
Jabawiyeh.  The  village  and  its  environs,  being  the  property 
of  this  wely,  are  free  from  taxation,  and  its  men,  who  are 
mainly  descendants  of  the  saint,  are  free  from  military  ser- 
vice by  imperial  order.  Indeed,  'Abd-el-Hamid  is  said  to 
have  contributed  five  hundred  pounds  for  the  repair  of  the 
maqam,  or  shrine.  The  saint's  influence  still  controls  the 
vicinity.  The  houses  need  no  doors.  Cattle  may  wander 
at  will,  so  the  servant  told  Dr.  Curtiss,  and  should  a  thief 
dare  to  touch  one  of  the  herd,  he  would  be  turned  into  a 
swine,  or  some  other  animal,  while  the  cow  would  return 
to  the  shrine.1  Any  one  calling  on  Sa'ad-ed-Din,  no  matter 
where  he  may  be,  on  land  or  sea,  no  matter  to  what  race  or 
religion  he  may  belong,  will  get  help  and  succor. 

A  similar  belief  is  attached  to  the  four  poles  who  to  this 
very  day  are  said  to  appear  among  men,  for  help  or  for  tak- 
ing vengeance,  as  surely  in  their  waking  as  in  their  sleeping 
hours.  Sometimes  the  two  roles  may  be  combined  in  one. 
Two  Copts  in  Egypt,  so  a  Jerusalem  dervish  told  me,  tired 
of  toiling  for  a  living,  assumed  the  red  turban  of  the  Beda- 
wiyeh  dervishes,  and  started  forth  on  a  tour  of  the  Moslem 
villages  where  their  Christian^  origin  was  not  known,  con- 
fident that  the  simple  fellahin  would  without  question 
serve  them  with  the  best  of  the  land,  in  recognition  of  their 
holiness.  At  nightfall  they  came  to  a  prosperous-looking 
village.  As  soon  as  their  presence  was  known,  the  peasants 
vied  with  each  other  in  bringing  forth  food,  but  the  two  Copts 
were  told  that  before  claiming  the  rights  of  dervishes  to 
this  common  hospitality  they  must  prove  these  by  jumping 
into  a  great  fire  of  logs  and  coals  glowing  in  the  open  place 
of  assembly.  Were  they,  in  truth,  dervishes,  they  must 
surely  come  forth  unharmed;  so,  if  they  would  eat,  into 
the  fire  first!  The  pseudo-dervishes  exchanged  a  glance, 
turned  to  the  people,  and  asked  if  they  might  go  apart 
for  a  moment.  Obtaining  their  wish,  they  withdrew  out 
of  sight,  tucked  up  their  garments,  and  ran  for  their  lives. 
1  Compare  I  Samuel  7  : 12. 


234       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

Then,  great  and  terrible,  loomed  in  their  path  Sheikh 
Ahmed  er-Refa'i,  dead  for  centuries,  but  still  lord  of  those 
who  may  tread  on  fire  and-  eat  live  coal  without  harm, 
prompt  to  avenge  the  insult  done  to  his  fellow-sheikh, 
Ahmed  el-Bedawy,  whose  disciples  these  lying  Christians 
claimed  to  be.  "Go  back,"  he  said,  "and  do  what  the 
people  tell  you!"  Blinded  by  the  double  terror,  the  two 
Copts  stumbled  back  to  the  open  place,  and  leaped  among 
the  coals,  never  doubting  that  they  would  horribly  perish. 
But  lo!  they  came  out  unscathed,  and  the  people,  abun- 
dantly convinced  of  their  dervishhood,  not  only  pressed 
upon  them  the  gathered  food,  but  brought  forth  sheep  and 
donkeys  as  presents  to  the  holy  men.  These  went  on 
their  way,  reflecting.  In  what  better  way  could  they  show 
their  gratitude  to  the  Refa'i,  whose  mercy  had  averted  a 
just  punishment,  than  by  professing  in  truth  the  faith  which 
they  had  mocked  ?  And  so  they  became  Moslems. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  all  such  tales  implicitly  rec- 
ognize the  subordination  of  the  miraculous  powers  of  the 
welies  to  the  one  God,  who  may  see  fit  to  render  them  in- 
fallible. A  dervish  told  me  that  his  great  founder,  'Abd- 
el-Qadir  himself,  whose  name  means  Servant  of  the  All- 
Powerful,  once  was  asked  by  a  woman  with  child  whether 
she  had  conceived  a  boy  or  a  girl.  At  once  he  declared 
that  he  had  miraculous,  tangible  proof  that  it  was  a  boy. 
When,  later,  it  was  told  the  sheikh  that  the  woman  had 
brought  forth  a  girl,  he  said:  "The  Power  of  the  All- 
Powerful  has  conquered  the  Servant  of  the  All-Powerful!" 

II.    THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION 

Of  the  eighty-eight  religious  orders  of  Islam,  at  least 
nine  have  representation  in  Syria  and  Palestine.1  The  fol- 
lowers of  the  Qadiri'yeh,  Refa'i'yeh,  Bedawi'yeh,  Dusuqi'- 
yeh  and  Sa'adi'yeh,  all  closely  allied,  are  by  far  the  most  nu- 

1  See  "Marabouts  et  Khouan,"  pp.  26-51,  by  Louis  Rinn  (Alger, 
1884).  He  gives  the  names  and  founders  of  eighty-eight  orders. 
Some  of  these  are  offshoots  or  derived  orders.  A  Syrian  dervish  sheikh 
estimated  the  number  of  orders  at  forty-four. 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  235 

merous,  being  found,  in  Palestine  proper,  almost  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  all  other  orders.1  Sheikhs  may  belong  to  four  of 
these  orders  at  once,  a  privilege  not  usually  accorded  to  the 
lay-followers.  Members  of  any  one  order  are  admitted  to 
the  meetings  of  any  other.  They  may  have  a  za'wiyeh,  or 
dervish  house,  in  common.  The  Qadiri'yeh,  founded  by 
Sheikh  'Abd-el-Qa'dir  ej-Jila'ni  or  Keila'ni,  a  sherif  or  de- 
scendant of  the  prophet  (died  at  Baghdad,  1165  A.  D.),  is 
the  parent  order  (Tari'qa-el-usuP).  His  natural  descend- 
ants (who  may  or  may  not  become  members  of  the  order 
by  initiation)  have  special  privileges  to-day,  such  as  exemp- 
tion from  military  service.  Members  of  the  wealthy  Keilani 
family  of  Damascus  and  Hamath  show  high  breeding  and 
polished  manners.  As  with  other  sherifian  orders,  whose 
founders  were  of  the  family  of  Mohammed,  a  certain  pres- 
tige attaches  to  the  initiated  members  also. 

The  Refa'i'yeh  and  the  Sa'adi'yeh  are  derivatives  of  the 
Qadiri'yeh  (Turuq'  el  furu"a),  the  former  founded  by  Ah'- 
med  er-Refa'ri  (died  at  Bosrah,  1182  A.  D.),  nephew  of 
'Abd-el-Qadir,  and  the  latter,  also  called  Jebawl'yeh,  by 
Sa'ad-ed-Din  ed-Je'bawi  (died  at  Je'ba,  1335  A.  D.).  Lane 
regards  the  Sa'adiyeh  as  a  sub-sect  of  the  Refa'fyeh;  Bal- 
densperger  does  not  use  the  distinctive  name  but  appears  to 
refer  to  members  of  the  Sa'adiyeh  when  speaking  in  general 
of  the  Refa'iyeh.  Descendants  of  Sheikh  Ahmed  er-Refa'i, 
bearing  also  the  name  of  Refa'lyeh,  which  thus  signifies  a 
natural  as  well  as  a  spiritual  descent,  are  scattered  all  over 
the  land.  The  family  is  said  to  include  some  tribes  of  the 
Arabs.  Some  fifty  years  ago,  Abu-el-Hu'da,  chief  of  the 
order  at  Constantinople,  obtained  an  imperial  permit  free- 
ing them  from  military  service.  Such  exemption  is  also 
accorded  to  the  family  of  the  Sa'adiyeh,  who  form  the 
population  of  the  village  of  Jeba  where  their  ancestor  and 
founder  of  the  order  was  buried.  The  Bedawiyeh,  founded 
by  Ah'med  el-Be'dawi,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  celibate2 

1  Baldensperger  (see  his  article,  op.  tit.)  recognizes  no  other  orders  in 
Palestine  proper.     As  to  the  close  connection  between  these  orders  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  remarks  on  the  four  poles,  p.  232. 

2  Notwithstanding  this  fact,  Baldensperger  asserts  that  he  is  supposed 
to  be  indulgent  toward  adulterers.     (See  his  article,  op.  tit,  p.  32.) 


236        THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

(died  at  Tantah,  Egypt,  1276,  A.  D.),  and  the  Dusuqi'yeh, 
founded  by  Ib'rahim  ed-Dusu'qi  (died  at  Dusuq,  Egypt, 
1278,  A.  D.),  follow  ecstatic  principles  similar  to  those  of 
the  mother  order  of  the  Qadiriyeh.  Each  order  is  signal- 
ized by  a  cap  and  banner  of  a  distinctive  color. 

Such  are  the  most  popular  orders  in  Syria  and  Palestine, 
having  the  greatest  following  among  the  multitude.  Next 
in  importance  comes  the  order  of  the  Mowlawi'yeh,  or 
so-called  whirling  dervishes,  founded  by  Jelal'  ed-Din, 
Mowla'wa  (died  Ko'niah,  1273  A.  D.),  with  houses  at 
Aleppo,  Damascus,  Hums,  and  Tripoli.  This  order,  most 
popular  in  Asia  Minor,  appears  to  have  no  influence  in 
Palestine  proper.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  order  of 
the  Shazili'yeh,  which  occupies,  as  we  shall  see,  a  unique 
place  among  dervish  fraternities.  The  spiritual  appeal  of 
mystic  doctrine  which  they  make  is  very  different  from  the 
thaumaturgic  appeal  of  signs  and  wonders,  which  accredit 
the  ordinary  dervish  with  the  peasantry.  Their  founder 
was  Abu  Ha'san  esh-Sha'zili  (died  at  Mecca,  1258  A.  D.). 
The  Kalandari'yeh  (offshoot  of  the  Bakhtashi'yeh  or  Bagh- 
dashi'yeh,  founded  by  the  Haji  Bakhtash',  died  1357)  have 
an  establishment  in  Aleppo,  where  celibacy  is  practised. 
Finally,  at  Damascus,  under  a  sheikh  of  their  own,  recog- 
nized or  at  least  tolerated  by  the  Turkish  authorities,  may 
be  found  a  few  secret  followers  of  the  famous  North  Afri- 
can order,  the  Senusi'yeh,  founded  in  1835  by  Mohammed 
ibn-Senu'si  (died,  Jerabub,  in  the  Libyan  Desert,  1859). 
Each  of  these  orders  is  connected  by  the  "  chain  of  succes- 
sion" (sil'sileh),  as  proved  by  the  diploma  (sa'nad)  of  the 
sheikhs,  with  the  original  society  founded  by  'Ali,  son-in- 
law  of  the  prophet;  except  the  Kalandari'yeh  which  derives 
from  that  of  Abu  Bekr,  his  father-in-law. 

All  general  statements  regarding  the  organization  of  the 
orders  should  be  prefaced  by  the  caution  that  these  do  not 
necessarily  hold  true  for  any  given  branch  of  any  given 
order,  in  any  given  place,  at  the  present  time.  Organiza- 
tion, perfected  when  the  order  was  founded,  has  always 
shown  the  tendency  to  disintegrate.  The  closer  in  time  an 
order  is  to  its  founder  the  more  perfect  will  be  its  organiza- 
tion. Thus  the  order  the  most  rigidly  organized  to-day  is 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  237 

that  of  the  Senusiyeh,  established  only  seventy-five  years 
ago  in  North  Africa.  It,  however,  was  the  result  of  a  split 
in  the  order  of  Khudiri'yeh,  founded  a  century  and  a 
quarter  before.  Most  of  the  orders  represented  in  Syria 
and  Palestine  to-day  date  from  the  Middle  Ages.  The  not- 
able lack  of  cohesion  now  apparent  among  the  branches 
existing  in  these  lands,  including  those  of  the  mother  order 
of  the  Qadiriyeh,  by  no  means  represents  the  theory  of  or- 
ganization actually  put  in  practice  when  the  orders  were 
established,  and  still  prevailing,  though  in  limited  way,  in 
the  branches  of  the  Qadiriyeh  found  in  North  Africa. 

With  this  caution  in  mind,  we  may  now  set  forth  the 
principles  and  facts  at  the  basis  of  all  the  dervish  orders.1 
At  the  head  of  the  order  is  the  sheikh,  usually  resident  at 
the  mother  za'wiyeh,  or  monastery,  built  near  the  tomb  of 
the  founder,  of  whom,  according  to  the  rules  of  many  or- 
ders, he  is  a  direct  descendant  according  to  the  flesh.  The 
sheikh  is  the  grand  master  of  the  order,  a  veritable  pontiff; 
its  spiritual  and  temporal  director;  inheritor  of  the  baraka, 
or  blessing,  imparted  to  the  founder  by  the  Almighty;  dis- 
tributor of  this,  through  initiation,  to  others;  having  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  law  of  God ;  exercising  the  gift  of 
miracles;  and  claiming  absolute  obedience  from  all  his  fol- 
lowers %  Theoretically,  he  alone  is  entitled  to  the  name  of 
sheikh,  but  in  most  of  the  orders  this  is  accorded  by  courtesy 
and  usage  to  all  his  subordinates,  however  humble,  who,  as 
his  representatives,  admit  to  initiation.  Among  the  Qadi- 
riyeh and  allied  orders  these  representatives  are  divided  into 
two  ranks:  a  member  of  the  higher  rank  is  called  khali'fy 
(successor,  deputy,  vicar),  who  controls  the  muqud'dims 
(prepositi)  placed  under  him,  and  thus  constituting  a  lower 
rank.2  In  other  orders  the  title  of  muquddim  alone  ob- 

1  See  the  invaluable  work  of  Depont  and  Coppolani,  "  Les  Conf re'ries 
Religieuses  Musulmanes,  pp.  193  ff.  (Alger,  1897);   "The  Dervishes  or 
Oriental  Spiritualism,"  pp.  191  ff.,  by  J.  P.  Brown  (London,  1868). 
Compare  "The  Religious  Orders  of  Islam/'  by  E.  Sell,  of  Madras.     This 
appeared  originally  as  an  article  in  his  "Essays  on  Islam"  (1901),  but 
was  republished  separately  with  additions  in  1908. 

2  Khali'fah  (XftxJLs.)  is  derived  from  the  word  khalf  (v^ftjls.),  which 
means  "behind,"  and  thus  signifies  a  successor  or  the  one  left  behind. 


238       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

tains.  From  the  mother  zawiyeh  go  forth  khalifies,  or 
muquddims,  or  both,  to  organize  and  preside  over  branch 
establishments,  either  in  the  same  country,  or  in  distant 
lands.  Once  or  twice  a  year  the  sheikh  issues  pastoral 
letters  summoning  his  subordinates  to  a  council  or  assembly 
(had'rat),  where  reports  are  made  of  the  temporal  and  spir- 
itual condition  of  each  zawiyeh.  In  orders  where  the  office 
of  sheikh  is  not  hereditary,  the  business  of  the  assembly 
may  include  the  election  of  one  of  the  members,  noted  for 
his  ability  and  piety,  as  successor  to  the  head  of  the  order, 
deceased,  though  in  some  cases  the  sheikh  may  already  have 
named  his  own  successor  in  agreement  with  his  followers. 
And,  finally,  we  have  the  mass  of  adepts,  who  may  be  called 
the  laymen  of  the  order,  as  they  have  not  the  power  of  or- 
dination or  of  initiation,  though  through  initiation  they  may 
derive  a  share  of  the  miraculous  powers  transmitted  to  their 
initiators  from  the  central  source.  These  adepts,  who  are 
variously  called  dervishes,  brethren,  companions,  or  ser- 
vants, fall  into  two  classes:  first,  those  who  follow  the  as- 
cetic life,  either  domiciled  in  the  zawiyehs  (monasteries)  or 
wandering  as  begging  "faqirs";1  and,  second,  those  who 
live  in  the  world,  like  the  tertiaries  organized  by  the  Fran- 
ciscans, carrying  on  their  ordinary  occupation,  be  it  farm- 
ing or  trade,  but  attending  the  meetings  and  observing  cer- 
tain rites  of  the  order.  These  form  by  far  the  larger  class 
in  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Palestine.1  Even  initiating  sheikhs  of 
the  humbler  class  may,  in  these  lands,  earn  their  living  by 

The  term  khalifah  is  relative.  The  sultan  is  regarded  as  the  khalifah 
(caliph),  or  successor  to  the  prophet.  The  head  of  a  dervish  house  is  a 
khalifah  with  reference  to  his  (sometimes  hypothetical)  superior.  His 
under-sheikhs  are  khalifahs  with  reference  to  him.  The  word  khalf 
also  gives  us  the  verb  khallaf  Q-dJUsQ,  signifying  to  leave  behind,  and 
thus  to  bear,  to  beget.  This  verb  is  applied  to  the  sheikh,  or  khalifah, 
to  describe  his  act  of  investing  deputies  or  successors,  begetting  them 
in  the  spiritual  sense.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  this  chapter  we  trans- 
literate from  the  popular  pronunciation  of  the  word  which  in  Syria  and 
Palestine  is  sounded  khali'fy. 

JThe  primitive  meanings  of  the  words  "faqir"'  (>-AA*)  and  "fu'- 
qur"  (  -23)  are  "poor"  and  "poverty."    Baldensperger  uses  the  latter 

also  in  a  secondary  sense,  as  "scenes  of  fuqur,"  referring  to  dervish 
demonstrations  of  Thursdays.  (See  his  article,  op.  dt.f  p.  34.) 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  239 

following  a  trade.  Baldensperger,  who  writes  of  the  orders 
in  Palestine  from  intimate  personal  observation,  refers  to 
members  of  this  class  as  "  unrecognized  dervishes,  "  in  con- 
trast with  the  faqirs,  whom  he  describes  as  "active"  or 
"wandering"  dervishes,  who  take  the  vow  of  poverty,  let 
their  hair  grow,  and  assume  the  cap  and  spear  of  their 
lord,  that  is,  of  the  founder  of  the  order.  Some  dervishes, 
he  says,  become  "active"  immediately  on  initiation,  but 
the  majority  take  up  the  life  of  mendicancy  after  having 
lived  as  unrecognized  dervishes  for  years.  It  is  possible  to 
revert  to  a  secular  life  but  this  is  not  common.1  We  have 
spoken  thus  far  of  all  members  of  the  orders  in  the  mascu- 
line gender,  but  it  should  be  emphasized  that  the  benefits  of 
the  orders  are  accorded  to  women,  who  may  even  aspire  to 
the  rank  of  muqud'dim.  Examples  of  female  dervishes  in 
Palestine  have  come  to  my  notice,  though  I  understand  they 
are  rare. 

Such  is  the  dervish  organization  —  comparable  in  its  con- 
catenation to  the  monastic  system  of  Western  Christianity 
—  that  was  put  in  practice  by  the  founders  of  the  orders 
still  represented  in  Syria  and  Palestine.2  How  it  has  come 
about  that  few  traces  of  this  elaborate,  closely  knit  system 
of  control  are  to  be  found  among  the  dervishes  living  in 
these  lands  to-day  may  be  explained  by  a  brief  review  of 
the  history  of  the  Qadiriyeh,  the  mother  order  of  the  most 
influential  group.  The  founder  of  the  order,  'Abd-el-Qadir 
ej-Jilani,  was  buried,  as  we  have  noted,  at  Baghdad  in 
1165.  Here  continues  to  be  the  residence  of  the  direct  suc- 
cessor and  representative  of  the  founder,  whose  succession 
must  now  be  confirmed  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  where  the 
order  is  most  popular,  with  some  twenty  dervish  houses  in 
Constantinople.  In  course  of  centuries,  secondary  estab- 
lishments spread  over  the  world  of  Islam,  presided  over  by 
khalifies  and  muquddims,  who,  in  the  early  years  of  a  given 
establishment,  rendered  allegiance  to  the  sheikh  at  Bagh- 
dad. As  time  went  on,  however,  each  large  establishment 


2  The  orders  of  Islam  are  comparable  not  only  to  the  monastic  but 
to  the  masonic  system. 


240        THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

became  itself  the  centre  of  a  group  of  smaller  houses,  and 
finally,  ceased  to  recognize  in  any  practical  manner  the  au- 
thority of  the  sheikh  at  Baghdad,  though,  theoretically,  his 
supremacy  has  remained  unquestioned.  Thus,  in  general, 
all  financial  obligation  has  ceased  to  be  felt,  though  the 
shrine  of  'Abd-el-Qadir  has  ever  continued  to  attract  crowds 
of  pilgrims  whose  voluntary  gifts  add  greatly  to  its  revenues.1 
Secondary  groups,  thus  formed,  still  flourish  in  parts  of 
North  Africa.  In  Algeria  and  Tunisia,  for  example,  there 
are  three  important  monasteries,  independent  not  only  of 
the  mother  zawiyeh,  but  of  each  other.  One  monastery 
exercises  influence  over  the  north-eastern  region  of  Tunisia 
with  three  smaller  zawiyehs  in  subjection  to  it.  The  mu- 
quddim  of  the  central  establishment,  himself  acknowledg- 
ing no  authority,  claims  from  his  sub-sheikhs  the  allegiance 
he  theoretically  owes  to  the  sheikh  at  Baghdad.  The  com- 
plete alienation  from  the  mother  zawiyeh  is  illustrated  at 
the  monastery  of  Nef'ta  by  the  use  of  a  zikr  (form  of  wor- 
ship) unlike  that  of  Baghdad.  In  Morocco  the  order  has 
a  number  of  monasteries  which  are  quite  unco-ordinated.2 
And  for  a  final  example  of  disintegration  we  are  brought 
back  to  the  lands  which  form  the  subject  of  our  study — to 
Syria  and  to  Palestine.  Scattered  through  these  lands  are 
many  focal  points  of  dervish  life,  bound,  indeed,  by  a  union 
of  doctrine  and  practice  but  bound  by  no  permanent  or- 
ganic union.  The  last  general  assembly  or  council  of  the 
Qadiriyeh  was  held,  so  I  have  been  told,  some  two  hundred 
years  ago.  A  similar  lack  of  cohesion  is  to  be  found  in  gen- 
eral in  the  allied  orders,  the  Refa'iyeh,  Sa'adiyeh,  Bedawi- 
yeh,  and  Dusukiyeh,  as  well  as  in  the  Shaziliyeh.  Balden- 
sperger,  however,  gives  an  instance  showing  that  among 
the  Dusukiyeh  there  is  still  a  trace  of  a  former  allegiance  to 
a  central  authority.  In  Kuryet-el-'Anab,  near  Jerusalem, 
there  is  a  family  in  which  the  office  of  sheikh  in  the  order  of 
the  Dusukiyeh  is  hereditary.  When  the  sheikh  died  in  1891, 

1  The  immense  sums  sent  annually  from  India,  though  voluntary, 
appear  to  be  regarded  as  a  moral  obligation.     (See  Depont  and  Cop- 
polani,  op.  tit.,  pp.  209-300.) 

2  See  Depont  and  Coppolani  (op.  til.),  pp.  305-316. 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  241 

his  son  of  fourteen  years  refused  investiture  at  the  hands  of 
the  mukhtar,  or  mayor,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  an  in- 
ferior, but  with  his  own  hands  bound  the  sheikh's  turban 
half-way  around  his  head,  leaving  the  other  half  hanging 
down,  declaring  that  when  he  was  old  enough  he  would  go 
to  Dusuk,  in  Egypt  (where  the  founder  is  buried),  and  there 
receive  proper  investiture  from  his  own  superior  khalify!1 

We  have  just  used  the  term  "no  permanent  organic 
union/'  Temporary  organic  union,  as  applied  to  districts, 
there  may  be  under  the  authority  of  the  mur'shid,  that  is, 
the  guide  or  director.  This  sort  of  union  long  antedated 
the  organization  of  the  orders  in  the  twelfth  century.  The 
murshid  of  to-day  is  a  reversion  to  a  Semitic  type,  which 
created  the  schools  of  the  prophets  and  reappeared  in  the 
early  days  of  Islam.  Then  great  teachers  arose,  possessing 
qualities  of  leadership,  who  attracted  bands  of  followers. 
"Such  teaching  saints,"  says  Macdonald,  speaking  of  the 
ante-crusading  period,  "  came  and  went,  and  with  their  death 
their  circle  of  disciples  broke  up.  The  unit  of  organization 
was  still  the  teacher  and  for  his  life  only." 2  Here  is  a  descrip- 
tion, applying  equally  to  the  modern  murshid,  whose  influ- 
ence is  circumscribed  locally,  and  is  purely  personal,  being 
after  the  order  of  Melchizedek,  without  father  and  without 
descent.  From  time  to  time  there  arises  a  sheikh  of  extraor- 
dinary piety  or  ability,  or  both,  attracting  by  sheer  force  of 
personality  the  dervishes  of  the  surrounding  country,  who  in- 
stinctively acknowledge  his  God-given  authority,  yielding 
him  perfect  obedience.  Thus,  within  a  given  order  several 
murshids  may  coexist,  controlling  different  groups.  More- 
over, such  authority  may  extend  over  several  orders.  The 
celebrated  Abu  Rabah',  one  of  the  notables  of  Jaffa,  who  has 
only  recently  died,  was  sheikh  of  the  four  principal  orders, 
controlling  their  votaries,  sheikhs  and  laymen  as  far  south  as 
Gaza,  "like  a  general  in  the  army,"  so  a  poor  sheikh  of 
the  Qadiriyeh  told  me.  He  might  assemble  these  at  Jaffa, 
when  the  occasion  arose,  for  general  business,  or  he  might 

1  See  Baldensperger's  article  (op.  tit.},  p.  33. 

2  "The  Religious  Life  and  Attitude  in  Islam,"  p.  161,  by  D.  B.  Mac- 
donald (1909). 


242       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

at  any  time  command  the  presence  of  two  dervishes  to  set- 
tle a  dispute  between  them.  At  his  death,  Jaffa  ceased  to 
be  a  centre  of  dervish  power.  His  little  son  will  probably 
succeed  him  as  sheikh,  but  no  power  of  natural  heredity 
can  make  him  a  murshid. 

If  genuine  piety  be  a  requisite  for  a  murshid,  the  late 
Abu-'l-Huda,  prominent  among  the  members  of  'Abd-el- 
Hamid's  famous  or  rather  infamous  camarilla  could  hardly 
lay  claim  to  the  title.  His  rise,  however,  from  the  state  of  a 
poor,  wandering  dervish  to  a  position  of  such  authority  over 
the  Refa'lyeh  of  Turkey  that  he  has  been  called  their  su- 
preme sheikh  was  due  to  the  possession  of  certain  dynamic 
qualities  that  alone  make  a  murshid  possible.  His  father, 
a  humble  sheikh  of  the  Refa'iyeh,  and  also  a  descendant  of 
the  founder,  lived  not  far  from  Aleppo.  Initiated  as  a  poor 
young  man  into  the  order,  Abu-'l-Huda  became  at  first  a 
faqir,  going  about  chanting  and  jingling  his  tambourine. 
Later  he  was  summoned  to  Constantinople,  where  his  beauti- 
ful voice  brought  him  into  general  notice.  Having  established 
his  reputation  as  a  holy  man  with  the  Prince  'Abd-el-Hamid 
by  eating  a  live  serpent  in  his  presence,  he  was  appointed 
his  imam,  or  private  chaplain,  preaching  every  Friday  and 
interpreting  his  master's  dreams.  It  was  by  his  suggestion, 
so  it  is  affirmed,  on  excellent  authority,1  that  Midhat  Pasha 
raised  'Abd-el-Hamid  to  the  throne.  The  influence  gained 
over  the  sultan  secured  to  him  a  control  of  religious  affairs 
second  only  to  that  of  the  Sheikh-el-Islam  himself.  He 
became  known  as  the  sultan's  astrologer.  In  temporary 
affairs  also  the  sultan  sought  his  advice.  Through  him  as- 
pirants for  the  office  of  minister,  qadhi  (judge),  even  grand- 
vizier,  would  find  their  best  means  of  approach.  All  of  this 
suggests  the  source  of  his  wealth,  reputed  to  be  enormous; 
but  it  should  be  added  that  great  also  was  his  generosity. 
The  relations  of  these  two  masterful  spirits  were  not  al- 
ways smooth,  for  sometimes  the  dervish  and  the  sultan 

1  This  account  is  based  mainly  on  an  interview,  found  in  the  last 
"Journal"  of  Dr.  Curtiss  (No.  XIX),  which  he  had  with  a  notable  of 
Jerusalem,  who  had  been  deputy  to  the  first  parliament  of  'Abd-el- 
Hamid. 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  243 

would  be  estranged  for  six  months  at  a  time,  but  the  der- 
vish influence  was  maintained  on  the  whole  till  the  sultan's 
downfall.  Abu-'l-Huda  will  long  continue  to  be  a  name 
to  conjure  by  with  the  dervishes  of  Turkey,  though  the 
lack  of  consistency  between  his  vows  as  a  dervish  and  his 
life  as  a  courtier  provokes  free  comment.  It  is  stated  that 
under  his  powerful  direction  the  members  of  the  order,  the 
organization  of  which  has  become  much  disintegrated,  were 
recovering  a  spiritual  homogeneity  which  might  destine  x 
them  to  form  the  best  agents  for  the  Panislamic  movement  / 
inaugurated  in  1882.1  Up  to  this  time,  however,  this  move- 
ment does  not  appear  to  have  gained  ground  in  Syria  and 
Palestine.  The  tale  of  Abu-'l-Huda  is  one  that  might  be 
told  of  many  an  abbot  in  the  Middle  Ages.  We  have  re- 
peated it  in  this  connection  to  emphasize  its  distortion  of 
the  murshid  idea,  not  to  illustrate  this  normally.  Alas! 
the  murshids  of  the  church  were  not  all  like  Peter  the 
Hermit. 

In  a  former  paragraph  we  have  referred  to  the  unco- 
ordinated focal  points  of  dervish  life  among  the  Qadiriyeh 
and  allied  orders  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  Such  centres 
fall  under  two  classes.  Where  there  is  a  well-endowed  and 
well-organized  dervish  house,  zawiyeh  or  tekkeh  (written 
also  tekkiyeh),  it  is  customary  to  find  domiciled  a  sheikh 
who  has  under  him,  not  necessarily  resident  in  the  build- 
ing, a  number  of  sub-sheikhs,  who  as  his  representatives  or 
deputies  are  known  as  khalifies.  The  spiritual  ancestors  of 
such  presiding  sheikhs  were  themselves,  as  we  have  seen, 
khalifies  with  reference  to  the  head  of  the  order.  At  the 
present  day  they  are  quite  independent  of  control  though 
they  may  still  bear  the  title  of  khalify  in  a  historical  sense.2 
In  such  a  sense  the  term  khalify  is  applied  to  ordaining 
sheikhs,  usually  of  the  poorer  class,  not  subordinated  to 
the  presiding  officer  of  any  tekkeh.  These  constitute  the 
centres  of  the  second  class.  As  the  heads  of  tekkehs  con- 
trol a  body  of  lay-dervishes,  so  these  unattached  khalifies 
have  their  disciples.  The  former  might  be  loosely  com- 

1  See  Depont  and  Coppolani  (op.  cit.),  p.  327. 

2  See  also  p.  248. 


244       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

pared  to  a  rector  having  curates  as  well  as  a  congregation; 
the  latter  to  a  rector  with  a  small  congregation  alone. 

It  was  my  privilege,  on  a  recent  visit  to  a  town  of  north- 
ern Syria,  to  receive  from  a  sheikh,  who  presides  over  a 
tekkeh  belonging  to  the  order  of  the  Sa'adlyeh  or  Jebawiyeh, 
a  frank  account  of  himself  and  of  his  followers.  Though 
to  a  common  friend  I  had  expressed  a  desire  to  meet  Sheikh 
Sa'ad-ed-Din,  if  the  interview  could  be  arranged,  I  confess 
that  I  was  surprised  at  his  ready  proposal  to  come  to  my 
hotel.  The  moment  he  entered  my  room,  and  even  before 
he  came  up  to  me,  I  was  aware  of  a  vivid  personality.  Soon 
justified  was  my  first  impression.  Tall  and  straight;  digni- 
fied yet  winning;  with  magnificent  bold  black  eyes  that  had 
a  power  of  sudden  illumination;  gracious  in  manner  yet  ra- 
diating self-assurance;  rapid,  almost  torrential  in  speech; 
well  dressed  in  long  cloak  with  the  turban  of  his  order; 
well  groomed  with  dark  beard  streaked  with  gray — here,  in- 
deed, was  a  man,  of  authority.  Proofs  of  this  he  immediately 
and  somewhat  proudly  produced.  From  his  bosom  he  drew 
out  a  roll,  tattered  and  torn  at  the  top,  which  proved,  when 
unwound,  to  be  several  feet  long.  This  was  his  sa'nad,  or 
diploma,  accrediting  him  with  his  followers;  authorizing 
him  to  ordain  or  "give  the  way,"  and  to  heal  from  sickness 
or  bites  of  serpents.  Through  the  reading  of  this  diploma 
I  was  personally  conducted,  as  it  were,  for  he  kept  glancing 
up  to  insure  that  I  was  not  only  listening  but  taking  in  the 
full  meaning.  He  proceeded  to  unwind  an  apparently  end- 
less chain  of  names:  the  first  link  was  his  own  name;  the 
next,  the  name  of  his  ordaining  sheikh,  from  whom  he  had 
"received  the  way";  and  so,  on  and  on,  through  names 
well  known  in  Moslem  history,  till  he  paused  for  breath  at  the 
name  of  the  founder  of  the  order,  Sa'ad-ed-Din  ej-Jebawi, 
who  died  in  1335.  Then  the  line  receded  back  through  the 
Middle  and  Dark  Ages  with  a  list  of  names  unknown  to 
me,  from  whose  obscurity  flashed  that  of  the  great  imam, 
Ja'afar-es-Sa'diq,  till  at  last  I  was  thrilled  to  hear  the  words 
"who  received  it  from  Hosein,  who  received  it  from  'AH, 
who  received  it  from  Mohammed."  The  spiritual  succes- 
sion had  now  reached  its  source,  but  the  pedigree  went  on, 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  245 

changing  its  character,  however,  from  spiritual  to  natural. 
Instead  of  the  formula  "who  received  the  way  from"  ap- 
peared the  connecting  words  "who  was  the  son  of,"  carry- 
ing the  line  from  Mohammed  to  'Adnan,  ruler  of  Arabia  in 
122  B.  C.  For  each  link  up  to  this  point  Sheikh  Sa'ad-ed- 
Din  was  willing  to  vouch,  but  beyond  'Adnan,  through  a  line 
including  Ishmael,  Abraham,  Idris  (Enoch)  to  Adam  he  ac- 
knowledged that  the  chain  was  incomplete  and  uncertain. 
On  the  margin  of  this  sanad,  or  diploma,  were  seals  of 
sheikhs  of  other  orders  witnessing  to  the  identity  of  the 
bearer.  If  we  assume  that  each  diploma  in  the  chain  of 
documents  between  the  sheikh  and  his  great  namesake,  the 
founder  of  the  order,  had  been  similarly  accredited,  here  then 
was  apostolic  succession  indeed!  Credentials  though  less 
elaborate  than  his  own  our  sheikh  is  authorized  to  confer  on 
his  khalifies,  or  deputies, at  the  time  of  their  initiation.  These 
in  turn  become  authorized  to  "  pass  on  the  way,"  or  ordain 
to  the  dervishhood  in  the  villages,  acting  as  his  substitute. 
Later  I  passed  by  the  tekkeh,  or  dervish  house,  over 
which  Sheikh  Sa'ad-ed-Din  presides.  This  substantial  stone 
building,  with  an  inscribed  tablet  over  the  door-way,  was 
erected  at  the  expense  of  the  sultan  (probably  from  the 
waqf,  or  religious  endowments).  'Abd-el-Hamid  also  con- 
firmed his  title  as  sheikh  over  the  establishment,  granting 
him  an  allowance  of  four  Turkish  pounds  a  month  (a  trifle 
over  seventeen  dollars).  He  expressed  doubts,  however,  at 
the  continuance  of  this  comfortable  condition,  for  he  had 
heard  that  the  reforms  consequent  on  the  revolution  might 
include  the  cutting  off  of  such  allowances.  Within  the 
dervish  house — such  was  his  declaration — he  was  abso- 
lutely independent,  owing  allegiance  to  no  central  authority, 
whether  to  the  sheikh  at  Jeba,  a  descendant  of  the  founder 
there  buried,  or  to  any  sheikh  at  Constantinople.  In  fact, 
when  he  visited  the  capital  he  did  not  even  trouble  himself 
to  pay  his  respects  to  Abu-'l-Huda,  head  sheikh  of  the 
Refa'iyeh,  of  which  order  his  own  is  a  sub-sect.  With  the 
other  dervish  houses  of  his  order  in  Syria  he  has  no  official 
or  organic  connection,  recognizing  only  ties  of  friendship. 
Out  of  courtesy  he  would  refuse  to  ordain  a  man  from  Da- 


246        THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

mascus,  telling  him  to  apply  to  the  sheikh  at  that  place,  and 
would  expect  similar  courtesy  from  his  Damascus  brother. 
He  admitted  the  principle  of  a  general  council  of  sheikhs 
for  matters  of  extraordinary  importance,  but  said  that  his 
order  had  not  had  one  for  three  hundred  and  sixteen  years.1 
He  likened  his  own  authority  over  his  followers  to  that  of 
the  sultan  embodied  in  an  imperial  decree.  Though  scat- 
tered over  the  city  attending  to  their  own  business,  he  could 
assemble  them  "in  ten  minutes"  by  giving  an  order  to  a 
dervish  messenger.  Sheikh  Sa'ad-ed-Din's  account  of  his 
relations  to  his  tekkeh  may  be  held  to  apply  in  general  to 
the  sheikhs  presiding  over  dervish  houses  belonging  to  the 
rest  of  the  allied  orders  of  which  the  Qadiriyeh  is  the  parent. 
We  may  now  notice  three  orders  not  in  this  group. 

Among  the  Syrian  adherents  of  the  order  of  the  Mowlawi- 
yeh,  or  whirling  dervishes,  who  number  some  five  hundred 
souls,  we  may  find  traces  of  that  cohesion  which  theoretically 
holds  together  the  component  parts  of  each  order,  but  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  is  notably  lacking,  in  Syria  and  Palestine, 
among  the  Qadiriyeh  and  allied  orders.  The  Mowlawlyeh 
establishments  at  Damascus,  Aleppo,  Tripoli,  and  flums  all 
acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  head  sheikh  of  the  order, 
whose  title  is  Chelebi  Effendi,  or  Mullah  Khunkar,  resident 
at  Koniah,  Asia  Minor,  where  the  founder  was  buried.  Each 
branch  is  under  the  direction  of  a  sheikh,  who  inherits  the 
office  from  his  father  or  brother,  but  who  must  be  confirmed 
in  it  by  the  chief  at  Koniah.  The  sheikh  at  Hums  is  subordi- 
nate to  the  sheikh  at  Damascus,  but  otherwise  the  four  heads 
of  establishments  appear  to  have  no  official  relations,  never 
meeting  in  a  general  council  either  at  Koniah  or  elsewhere. 
At  the  picturesquely  situated  dervish  house  at  Tripoli  the 
only  permanent  occupants  are  the  sheikh  and  his  family. 
Like  the  heads  of  all  such  houses  of  whatever  order,  he  is 
bound  to  give  hospitality,  even  to  "  half  his  loaf,"  to  visiting 
dervishes.  The  lay-members  pursue  their  ordinary  busi- 
ness in  the  city,  assembling  at  head-quarters  for  the  religious 
functions.  Of  the  whirling  function  we  speak  in  the  next 
section.  At  Damascus  these  lay-brothers  are  also  prepon- 

1  My  information  was  received  in  1909. 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  247 

derant,  but  at  the  tekkeh  are  usually  resident  some  ten  celi- 
bates, including  visitors.  The  sheikh  is  a  notable  figure  in 
Damascus.  In  Aleppo  the  Mowlawiyeh  occupy  a  hand- 
some house  on  the  principal  street,  besides  owning  valu- 
able endowed  lands.  The  cap  of  the  order,  always  a  con- 
spicuous object  in  a  crowd,  is  of  yellowish  white  felt  in  the 
form  of  a  truncated  cone. 

Until  very  recently  the  Shaziliyeh  of  Syria  recognized  a 
supreme  sheikh  with  authority  like  that  wielded  by  the 
head  of  the  Mowlawiyeh  over  his  Syrian  followers.  The 
office  was  not  hereditary,  each  chief  appointing  his  succes- 
sor. When  the  head  sheikh  died  at  Acre,  in  1901,  the  office 
lapsed,  as  no  one  was  found  worthy  of  succeeding  to  the  post. 
Since  then  each  sheikh  has  been  independent,  save  in  so  far 
as  he  may  acknowledge  the  personal  authority  of  a  murshid. 
As  has  been  intimated,  the  Shaziliyeh  occupy  a  unique  place 
among  the  dervishes  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  In  general  it 
may  be  said  of  them  that  with  the  Baghdashiyeh  (who  are 
represented  in  Syria  only  by  a  derivative  order  called  the 
Kalandariyeh,  with  a  house  at  Aleppo)  they  have  kept  the 
sufi  ideal  before  them  more  clearly,  and  have  carried  it  out 
more  practically  than  have  the  rest  of  the  orders.1  They 
seek  to  attain  a  purified  spiritualism  by  prayer  at  all  hours, 
in  all  places,  and  under  all  circumstances.  To  the  tricks 
of  magic  practised  by  other  orders  they  give  no  countenance. 
At  the  same  time  they  have  a  distinct  intellectual  life.  The 
Shaziliyeh  have  been  called  the  Protestants  of  Islam,  the 
name  being  stretched  not  only  to  include  the  affiliated  mem- 
bers but  the  general  followers  of  the  teaching.  During  the 
last  century  their  activity  was  great,  but  the  pantheistic 
tendency  inherent  in  sufiism  has  brought  upon  them  the 
suspicion  of  the  Orthodox,  and  it  seems  to  be  partly  owing 
to  their  prudence  that  less  is  heard  of  them  in  the  present 
century.  There  is  a  mosque  in  Damascus  frequented  al- 
most exclusively  by  themselves  and  by  their  friends.  The 

1  My  information  in  regard  to  the  Baghdashiyeh  was  obtained  from 
a  Syrian  sheikh.  They  have  a  good  reputation  in  Constantinople.  How- 
ever, Dr.  D.  B.  Macdonald,  speaking  evidently  for  Egypt,  says  they 
are  accused  of  immoral  orgies.  (See  his  "Aspects  of  Islam,"  p.  154: 
New  York,  1911.) 


248       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

New  Testament  has  been  for  them  a  favorite  book  of  study, 
as  they  feel  free  to  interpret  the  statements  regarding  the 
divinity  of  Christ  in  a  pantheistic  sense. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  Senusiyeh  are  represented  in  Syria 
only  by  a  few  secret  followers  in  Damascus,  under  a  sheikh 
recognized  or  tolerated  by  the  Turkish  Government.  But 
as  this  powerful  North  African  order,  organized  as  recently 
as  1835,  is  engaged  in  spreading  the  Panislamic  idea,  for 
whose  origin  it  is  said  to  be  responsible,  and  which  if  car- 
ried out  logically  would  menace  all  European  possessions 
in  North  Africa,  a  brief  paragraph  may  be  devoted  to  it. 
The  founder,  Mohammed  Ibn  Senusi,  was  buried  in  1859 
at  Jerabub,  an  oasis  in  the  L4byan  Desert,  midway  between 
Egypt  and  Tripoli,  and  to  his  magnificent  mausoleum  throng 
multitudes  of  his  followers,  who  are  said  to  substitute  this 
visit  for  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.1  The  head-quarters  of 
the  order  were  transferred  in  1893  or  1894  to  Kafra,  some 
three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south  of  Jerabub,  by  the 
Sheikh-el-Mahdi,  son  of  the  founder.  In  ways  that  (up 
to  the  present)  are  more  peaceful,  this  order,  still  in  the 
vigor  of  youth,  is  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  unsuccess- 
ful Puritan  revival  of  the  Wahabis,  crushed  early  in  the  last 
century  by  the  arms  of  Ibrahim  Pasha.  Austere  in  their 
living,  iconoclastic  toward  the  cult  of  shrines,2  zealous  in 
their  efforts  to  restore  the  primeval  ideas  of  Islam,  intolerant 
not  only  of  Christians  but  of  such  Moslem  powers  as  tolerate 
these,  the  followers  of  this  order,  said  to  number  millions, 
constitute  a  force  that  the  world  may  have  to  reckon  with. 
From  other  orders  are  gathered  recruits  who  by  conforming 
to  certain  restrictions  are  permitted  to  retain  the  old  allegi- 
when  accepting  the  new.  Good  Moslems  are  urged 

leave  such  countries  as  Turkey  and  Egypt,  where  a  com- 
promise is  officially  made  between  Islam  and  Western  civ- 
ilization. It  may  be  added  that  mighty  as  is  the  influence 
in  Syria  and  Palestine  of  the  orders  chiefly  represented  in 
these  lands,  this  is  not  on  the  same  high  plane,  intellectual, 

1  See  "Essays  in  Islam,"  by  Rev.  E.  Sell,  article  in,  "The  Religious 
Orders  of  Islam,"  pp.  127  ff.     Compare  Depont  and  Coppolani  (op. 
cit.},  pp.  539-541. 

2  Exception  is  evidently  made  for  the  founder's  shrine. 


^ 
Jto 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  249 

spiritual,  and  political,  with  that  claimed  for  the  Senusiyeh 
in  North  Africa.  While  the  influence  of  the  dervishes  in 
Turkey  is  grounded  on  the  people's  belief  in  their  holiness, 
yet  the  appeal  is  largely  through  superstition.  That  the 
Shaziliyeh  furnish  an  exception  to  this  statement  has  just 
been  indicated. 

The  principles  underlying  the  rite  of  initiation  in  the  va- 
rious orders  are  the  same,  though  details  may  differ.  The 
seeker  (ta'lib)  must  show  a  character  beyond  reproach  for 
honesty,  chastity,  and  piety.  In  Jerusalem,  I  am  assured, 
insistence  is  placed  on  this  requirement.  With  the  Mow- 
lawiyeh  and  Baghdashtyeh  the  novitiate  is  said  to  last  one 
thousand  and  one  days.  In  some  orders  the  length  of  the 
period  of  probation  appears  to  depend  on  the  aptness  of 
the  seeker  to  profit  by  the  instruction  (seluk')  he  receives 
from  the  sheikh  to  whom  he  applies  and  whose  disciple 
(mu'rid)  he  becomes.  As  a  result  of  the  instruction  the 
seeker  becomes  practised  in  the  exercise  of  repeating  the 
name  of  God  (Ya  Allah!)  and  the  divine  titles  a  certain 
number  of  times.  This  practice  is  analogous  to  the  private 
zikr,  to  be  described  later.  Each  title,  as  The  Living,  The 
Powerful,  The  Able,  repeated  separately,  is  supposed  to 
produce  a  unique  and  peculiar  effect  on  the  one  uttering  it. 
The  forms  vary  with  the  different  orders.  When  the  in- 
structing sheikh  sees  signs  in  the  pupil  that  his  "rarefied 
spirit  is  prevailing  over  his  dense  flesh,"1  he  is  ready  to 
admit  him  to  the  order  as  a  simple  dervish.  The  instruction 
must  be  given  secretly,  but  at  the  ceremony  of  initiation  lay- 
men or  non-dervishes  may  be  present.2  The  services  (which 
are  usually  held  on  a  Thursday  evening,  that  is,  on  the  eve 
of  the  sacred  day)  include  the  reading  in  concert  of  pas- 
sages from  the  Koran  and  the  chanting  of  the  creed  with 
other  verses.3  When  the  sheikh  administers  the  oath,  he 

1  A  phrase  obtained  from  an  initiating  sheikh. 

2  A  Jerusalem  layman  described  to  me  an  initiation  of  the  Qadiriyeh 
at  which  he  was  present. 

3  The  description  here  given  applies  to  the  Qadiriyeh  and  allied 
orders.     Compare  with  the  accounts  of  Baldensperger  (op.  tit.),  pp.  24 
and  31. 


250       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

may  spit  on  the  candidate's  hands  and  forehead.  Accord- 
ing to  Baldensperger,  writing  of  the  peasants,  with  the 
Refa'iyeh  the  sheikh  spits  in  the  candidate's  mouth  several 
times,  in  order  that  he  may  be  poison-proof.  The  candidate 
also  swallows  a  piece  of  sugar  which  he  has  taken  from  the 
mouth  of  the  sheikh.1  In  the  sheikh's  blessing  occur  the 
words:  "In  the  name  of  the  founder  you  have  permission 
to  heal  and  to  cure  from  bites  of  serpents."  Power  to  enter 
the  fire  without  burning  and  to  drink  poison  without  harm 
may  also  be  assured.2  Sometimes  incense  is  burned.  The 
sheikh  invests  the  candidate  with  the  cap  of  the  order  and, 
most  important  of  all,  gives  him  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 
In  some  cases  the  initiate  is  then  beaten  with  swords  and 
struck  on  the  head,  to  the  accompaniments  of  rude  cries 
and  shouts  of  "  Allah ! "  "  Allah ! "  To  accredit  him  with 
the  masses  the  new  dervish  receives  a  sanad,  a  certificate 
from  the  sheikh  for  which  he  pays  a  fee  ranging  from  twelve 
cents  to  five  dollars.3  To  seal  the  reception  a  lamb  or  goat 
may  be  killed  and  partaken  of  by  the  dervishes  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. The  mass  of  dervishes  do  not  arise  beyond  the 
first  degree.  The  second  degree  is  that  of  naqib',  or  na'yib 
(literally,  representative  of  the  sheikh),  whose  function  in 
some  orders  is  to  have  charge  of  the  standard  and  musical 
instruments:  the  drums,  large  and  small,  and  the  cymbals. 
The  highest  degree  is  that  of  sheikh,  or  khalify,  who  has 
the  power  of  "passing  on  the  way,"  or  admitting  to  the 
order  by  initiation.  He  is  invested  with  his  turban,  the 
sign  of  the  highest  degree,  by  the  khalify  in  charge  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. 

Some  of  the  rules  governing  initiation  and  investiture  are 
curious.  A  man  may  become  khalify  of  four  orders,  but 
it  is  required  that  he  receive  each  "way"  from  a  different 

1  Examples  are  given  in  the  next  section  of  the  supposed  healing 
qualities  of  the  saliva  of  holy  men. 

2  Compare  Mark  16  : 17  and  18.     The  ordinary  Mowlawfyeh  dervishes 
do  not  receive  especial  authority  at  initiation  for  performing  miracles, 
but  a  dervish  who  possesses  spiritual  qualifications  and  has  acquired 
personal  merit  may  exercise  the  function  by  permission  of  his  khalify. 

3  But  see  note  2  on  p.  251. 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  251 

sheikh.  A  sheikh  may  carry  his  father's  diploma  provided 
that  a  notary  certify  to  the  matter  of  transfer  or  inheritance. 
A  man,  however,  cannot  be  initiated  by  his  own  father,  even 
if  later  he  is  to  succeed  him.  The  purpose  of  this  prohibition 
is  plainly  to  guard  against  paternal  partiality.  A  further 
illustration  of  the  importance  attached  to  selection  of  can- 
didates for  dervishhood  is  furnished  by  the  following  story 
heard  from  a  Jaffa  sheikh:  A  khalify,  who  was  accused  of 
giving  the  "way"  indiscriminately,  replied  that  he  could 
easily  put  the  worth  of  his  followers  to  the  test  (imtahan1). 
Assembling  these  outside  a  mosque,  he  commanded  them  to 
ascend  a  lofty  minaret  and  one  by  one  to  jump  down  into 
his  arms.  Those  who  immediately  obeyed  substantiated 
their  eligibility  to  the  order;  those  who  refused  showed  by 
their  lack  of  faith  that  they  were  unworthy.  Exactly  how 
the  test  affected  the  reputation  of  the  sheikh  for  carefulness 
I  was  not  informed.  This  story  also  illustrates  the  obedi- 
ence expected  by  an  initiating  sheikh  from  his  adepts,  to 
whom  he  is  spiritual  father,  as  it  were. 

The  sanad,  or  diploma,  is  supposed  to  contain  a  resume 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  order.  Diplomas  differ  much  in  ex- 
tent and  content.  In  orders  where  all  the  ranks  are  for- 
mally recognized  the  sheikh  at  the  mother  zawiyeh  will  have 
the  most  elaborate  sanad,  those  of  the  khalifies  will  be  less 
elaborate,  those  of  the  muquddims  even  less,  and  so  on 
down  to  the  adepts,  who  have  the  simplest  form  of  all, 
sometimes  hardly  more  than  a  letter  of  recommendation.2 
The  diplomas  of  the  khalifies  in  Syria  vary  among  them- 
selves in  character.  A  diploma  with  a  genealogy  (sil'sileh) 
going  back  to  Mohammed  is  supposed  to  be  the  most  hon- 
orable. As  it  inevitably  must  include  many  names  whose 
chronological  succession  is  universally  known,  a  genuine  doc- 
ument will  successfully  challenge  investigation,  as  any  sub- 
stitution or  alteration  would  be  instantly  detected.  If  the 

1  An  example  of  imtahan,  or  test  of  a  true  dervish,  has  been  given  on 
pp.  233-234. 

2  Among  the  Mowlawiyeh  the  simple  dervishes  do  not  receive  a  di- 
ploma but  are  taught  certain  secret  words  and  signs  by  which  they  may 
be  known  to  others  of  the  same  order. 


252       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

initiating  sheikh,  however,  be  widely  known  personally,  the 
diplomas  he  issues  will  be  honored  even  if  they  contain 
only  his  own  name,  properly  certified,  with  no  genealogy 
appended.  In  case  of  an  obscure  sheikh  a  diploma  without 
concatenation  would  not  be  recognized,  at  least  in  places 
where  the  bearer  was  a  stranger.  Khalifies  who  can  trace 
their  pedigrees  back  to  some  common  spiritual  ancestor 
take  pleasure  in  a  bond  of  special  affinity.  Naturally, 
the  nobility  of  a  given  pedigree  is  enhanced  by  the  in- 
clusion therein  of  names  high  in  the  aristocracy  of  saint- 
hood.1 

We  have  noticed  that  in  some  orders  the  hereditary  prin- 
ciple governs  the  succession  to  the  office  of  sheikh.  This  may 
hold  true  not  only  of  the  head  of  the  order,  but  of  sheikhs 
presiding  over  tekkehs  and  even  of  unattached  khalifies. 
The  office  is  inherited  from  a  father  or  brother.  But  even 
here  the  essence  of  the  "ways,"  which  none  is  supposed  to  en- 
ter without  full  consecration  to  the  spiritual  life,  is  regarded 
as  the  real  determinative  force.  In  the  last  analysis  it  would 
appear  that  a  hereditary  claim  must  be  endorsed  by  a  spirit- 
ual fitness  or  become  invalidated.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  inquire  how  far  this  principle  is  practically  observed.  I 
am  glad  to  testify  that  one  of  my  fellah  workmen  in  Pal- 
estine, though  in  the  direct  natural  line  of  succession  as 
khallfy,  was  refused  initiation  on  the  ground  that  he  was 
too  worldly.  The  synthesis  of  natural  and  spiritual  descent 
is  also  illustrated  by  hereditary  dervish  sheikhs,  descendants, 
presumably,  of  some  great  saint  though  not  attached  to  any 
order.  Such  holy  men  are  found  among  the  Rubin  Beda- 
win  and  at  Deir-esh-Sheikh  near  Wady  Ismail.2  We  may 
add  that  there  are  also  many  humble  dervishes,  belonging 
to  no  order,  who,  as  Baldensperger  quaintly  says,  "have 
their  secret  direct  from  God"  and  so  "belong  to  God's 
order." 3  Here,  of  course,  there  is  no  natural  heredity. 

1  A  diploma  granted  to  Sir  Richard  Burton  when  he  was  initiated 
into  the  order  of  the  Qadiriyeh  is  given,  in  facsimile  translation,  as  an 
appendix  to  his  work,  "A  Pilgrimage  to  Meccah  and  Medinah." 

2  See  Baldensperger's  article  (op.  tit.),  pp.  35,  36. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  38. 


THE  DERVISH  ORGANIZATION  253 

The  phrase  "A  dervish  at  God's  gate,"  describing  these  poor 
men,  has  passed  into  a  proverb  of  wider  significance. 

Ever  since  the  establishment  of  the  orders  two  contrary 
principles  have  been  at  work  within  them:  heredity  and 
celibacy.  The  principle  of  heredity,  involving  the  institu- 
tion of  marriage,  contravenes  neither  the  letter  nor  the  spirit 
of  Islam;  indeed,  is  plainly  in  harmony  with  both.  The 
principle  of  celibacy  is  in  accordance  with  neither.  "Let 
there  be  no  monks  in  Islam"  was  an  early  dictum.  On  the 
other  hand,  celibacy  is  the  logical  end  of  the  ascetic  life, 
which  demands  the  suppression  of  every  comfort  and  bod- 
ily indulgence.  Moreover,  the  state  is  almost  necessitated 
by  the  wandering  life.  Celibates,  then,  there  always  have 
been  among  the  dervishes.  An  early  precedent  was  fur- 
nished by  Selman-el-Pha'risi,  the  khalify,  or  successor,  of 
Abu  Bekr  to  the  presidency  of  one  of  the  two  original  orders 
from  which  all  others  derive.  He  was  unmarried.  The 
founders  of  the  orders  of  the  Dusukiyeh  and  of  the  Kalan- 
dariyeh  were  also  celibates.  But  with  20  statistics  to  prove 
my  point,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  celibates  must  al- 
ways have  been  in  the  minority.  In  the  minority  they  most 
decidedly  are  in  Syria  to-day.  Baldensperger  appears  not 
even  to  recognize  the  principle  for  Palestine.  "  As  a  rule," 
he  says,  "the  dervishes  are  married  men — at  least  mar- 
riage has  nothing  to  do  with  being  a  dervish."  At  Aleppo 
there  is  an  establishment  of  the  Kalandariyeh  (a  branch  of 
the  Baghdashiyeh)  with  a  group  of  celibates,  whose  sheikh 
must  be  chosen  by  election.  The  building  of  a  similar 
establishment  at  Hamath  for  the  Refa'iyeh,  with  cells  for 
celibates,  was  arrested  at  the  death  of  Abu-'l-Huda,  who 
was  furnishing  the  funds.  There  are  about  ten  celibates 
resident  at  the  tekkeh  of  the  Mowlawiyeh  at  Damascus, 
whose  sheikh,  however,  is  hereditary.  Some  years  since  a 
monastery  was  established  for  Shaziliyeh  celibates  in  Hums, 
but  later  was  broken  up.  These  are  all  the  traces  of  celi- 
bate bodies  that  I  have  found  in  Syria,  though  there  may 
be  others.  As  it  is,  the  vow  of  chastity  is  not  always  per- 
manently binding.  Those,  however,  who  practise  celibacy 
1  See  Baldensperger's  article  (op.  cit.),  p.  35. 


254       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

also  observe  their  vows  of  poverty  and  obedience  with  ex- 
ceptional strictness.  The  hair  is  not  cut;  the  person  is  neg- 
lected.1 Celibacy  extends  also  to  women.  The  only  old 
maids  in  Islam  are  female  dervishes.  One  lives  at  'Ain 
Ka'rim,  near  Jerusalem,  known  as  Bint-esh-Sheikh,  or  the 
sheikh's  daughter.  She  is  a  quiet,  peaceable  sort  of  person, 
famed  for  her  cures,  which  attract  visitors,  who  bring  her 
presents  from  all  parts  of  the  land.  Sometimes  she  visits  the 
threshing-floors,  taking  her  toll  of  wheat.  Baldensperger 
asserts  that  a  dervish  may  be  temporarily  turned  into  a  walieh 
(feminine  of  wely:  a  female  saint).  In  this  case  he  sits 
in  the  harim,  as  he  has  for  the  moment  changed  his  sex. 
Woman,  so  Baldensperger  implies  in  a  paragraph  that  is 
not  quite  clear,  is  held  by  the  fellahin  to  incarnate  many 
of  the  attributes  of  holiness  which  should  distinguish  a  der- 
vish :  she  does  not  bear  arms,  she  suffers  beating,  she  serves 
others.  As  mother  of  mankind  the  peasants  acknowledge 
her  theoretic  value,  but  in  their  actual  treatment  of  her, 
so  Baldensperger  hastens  to  add,  they  deny  this,  even  apolo- 
gizing for  the  mere  mention  of  her.2 

A  comparison  of  the  dervish  organization  as  it  is  in 
theory,  with  the  conditions  actually  obtaining  to-day  among 
the  dervishes  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  suggests  that  organiza- 
tion is  regarded  as  mere  machinery.  It  has  always  been  a 
means,  never  an  end.  It  has  never  crystallized.  Its  play 
has  been  easy  and  fluid.  It  has  never  dominated  the  spirit. 
If  the  "way"  is  properly  handed  down;  if  the  zikr  is  faith- 
fully performed;  if  means  are  taken  to  keep  the  heart  and 
life  pure,  it  matters  little  to  the  continuance  of  the  movement 
whether  parts  of  the  machinery  get  in  motion  or  no.  Purity 
is  the  end.  If  a  man  can  attain  this  better  through  celibacy, 
let  him  be  a  celibate;  if  he  can  preserve  it  better  in  marriage, 
let  him  marry.  A  central  authority  is  good.  But  if  in  the 
course  of  development  this  loosens  its  hold  on  the  branches, 
the  branches  still  flourish.  To  have  a  local  guide  or  murshid 
is  good.  But  if  the  murshid  dies  and  there  arises  none  to 

1  See  foot-note  1  to  p.  260. 

2  See  Baldensperger's  article  (op.  cit.\  p.  38. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  255 

succeed  him,  the  dervish  life  goes  on  just  the  same.  To 
such  an  elastic  conception  of  organization  may  be  ascribed 
the  wonderful  tenacity,  the  persistent  vitality,  of  the  religious 
orders  of  Islam. 

III.    THE  DERVISH  LIFE 

The  centre  of  corporate  life  for  the  orders  is  the  dervish 
house,  called  in  Syria  and  Palestine  tek'keh  (sometimes 
pronounced  tekki'yeh)  or  za'wiyeh.  The  former  word 
seems  to  be  more  commonly  used  in  Syria,  the  latter  in 
Palestine,  but  they  sometimes  are  interchangeable.  Tekkeh 
appears  to  be  used  exclusively  in  Turkey;  zawiyeh  is  found 
in  all  countries.  The  word  zawiyeh  is  literally  a  corner; 
hence  it  came  to  signify  a  cell,  and  thus  developed  into  the 
wider  meaning  of  a  building  containing  a  group  of  cells  for 
individual  ascetics  and  pilgrims,  in  connection  with  a  large 
hall  for  public  exercises.  The  terms  zawiyeh  and  tekkeh 
are  also  applied  to  the  residence  of  the  chief  sheikh  of  an 
order  in  a  given  place,  provided  it  is  also  the  centre  of  organic 
life,  and  to  a  hospice,  whether  for  dervishes  or  for  poor  pil- 
grims in  general.  Above  the  green  gardens  of  Damascus 
rise  the  slender  minarets  of  the  mosque  attached  to  the  fa- 
mous tekkeh  built  for  the  accommodation  of  pilgrims  by 
Sultan  Selim  in  1517.  Besides  the  mosque  there  is  a  large 
court  with  twenty-four  dome-covered  chambers.  The  whole 
edifice  is  now  falling  into  decay,  and  in  some  of  the  rooms 
horses  are  stabled;  but  in  others  pilgrims  still  tarry  on  their 
way  home  from  Mecca,  while  dervishes  live  in  the  mean 
houses  near  by.  In  Jersualem  there  are  several  endowed 
zawiyehs  for  foreign  dervishes.  One  under  the  Ecce  Homo 
Arch  is  controlled  by  Hindus  resident  in  the  Holy  City  under 
a  sheikh.  More  important  is  the  zawiyeh  of  the  Moghra- 
bin,  or  Morocco  dervishes,  many  of  whom  serve  as  night 
watchmen  in  the  city  and  its  environs.  These  are  entitled 
to  receive,  gratis,  bed,  bread,  and  soup.  A  few  of  these 
Morocco  dervishes  live  in  the  two  rooms  above  the  Gate 
Beautiful  in  the  east  wall  of  the  Haram-esh-Sherif,  or 
temple  enclosure.  Some  poor  Qadiriyeh  dervishes  also 


256       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

occupy  other  rooms  in  this  haram  enclosure,  one  of  which 
is  used  for  holding  the  zikr,  or  religious  service,  and  for  keep- 
ing their  banner  and  musical  instruments,  as  the  order  has 
no  especial  zawiyeh  in  Jerusalem. 

The  characteristic  discipline  of  the  dervishes  is  the  zikr, 
literally,  a  "remembrance,"  that  is,  a  remembrance  of  God, 
which  produces  a  union  of  the  heart  and  of  the  tongue  in  the 
act  of  repeating  the  divine  name  according  to  set  formulas. 
It  has  been  called  the  real  pivot  of  sufiism,  a  form  of  revealed 
prayer  which  draws  the  name  of  God  constantly  to  the  lips, 
and  which  alone  has  the  power  of  lifting  to  the  divine 
presence  him  who  thus  perseveres  in  the  invocation  of  his 
name.1  Strange  are  the  contradictions  of  the  spiritual  life. 
Though  itself  a  reaction  from  formalism  and  a  yearning  for 
spirituality,  sufiism  prescribes  rigid  and  precise  rules  to  him 
who  would  attain  the  higher  reaches  of  the  spirit.  A  simliar 
inconsistency  may  be  traced  in  Christianity,  even  in  Protes- 
tantism itself.  The  plain  aim  of  the  "revival"  is  to  rekindle 
the  free  life  of  the  spirit,  but  all  too  often  it  is  "conducted" 
according  to  set  rules,  while  its  success  or  its  failure  is 
gauged  by  the  presence  or  by  the  absence  of  certain  stereo- 
typed phenomena.  The  zikr  formulae  are  many,  varying 
not  only  with  the  different  orders  sometimes  but  in  different 
branches  of  the  same  order.  In  general  the  discipline  falls 
into  three  categories.2  The  zikr-el-waqt,  literally  the  zikr 
of  the  hour,  is  merely  a  sort  of  litany  to  be  said  after  each  of 
the  five  required  prayers.  The  zikr-ej-jalla'la,  or  private 
zikr,  is  for  individual  use.  An  analogous  practice,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  included  in  the  instruction  leading  up  to  initia- 
tion. The  private  zikr  is  either  "secret"  (zikr-el-kha'fi), 
that  is,  to  be  recited  mentally  or  in  a  low  voice,  or  "vocal" 
(zikr-ej-ja'li),  that  is,  to  be  said  aloud.  The  Quadiriyeh 
are  supposed  to  practice  the  secret  zikr,  but  how  far  this 
obtains  in  Syria  and  Palestine  I  am  not  aware.  According 
to  Sell,  during  this  discipline  the  dervish  closes  his  eyes  and 
with  "the  tongue  of  the  heart"  repeats  the  words  "Alla'hu 
Sami'un"  (God  the  Hearer),  "Alla'hu  Basirun'"  (God  the 
Seer),  and  "Alla'hu  'Alimun'"  (God  the  Knower).  Then, 
1  See  Depont  and  Coppolani  (op.  tit.},  p.  78.  2  Ibid.,  pp.  88  ff. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  257 

phrase  by  phrase,  with  alternate  inhaling  and  exhaling  of 
breath,  he  utters  the  creed  of  the  unity,  thus  concluding 
the  zarb,  or  division  (strophe).  This  may  be  repeated  hun- 
dreds of  times.1 

According  to  the  form  given  by  the  same  writer  for  the 
vocal  zibr,  the  worshipper,  sitting,  but  varying  his  exact  post- 
ure from  time  to  time,  shouts  with  increasing  voice  and 
with  changes  of  voice-production  the  several  phrases  of 
the  creed.  This  zarb  is  repeated  one  thousand  and  one 
times.  The  zikr-el-had'ra,  or  zikr  of  the  congregation,  is  to 
be  said  by  a  number  of  dervishes  in  concert  after  a  leader  or 
preceptor.  It  is  usually  conducted  on  Thursday  evening 
(the  eve  of  the  sacred  day)  at  the  dervish  house.2  Accord- 
ing to  the  order  to  which  they  belong,  the  participants  squat 
on  their  heels,  stand  on  their  feet,  or  begin  sitting  and  later 
change  to  standing.  The  chanting  is  accompanied  by  the 
bending  of  the  body  in  different  directions.  Sometimes  the 
zikr  takes  the  form  of  a  rude  dance,  to  execute  which  the 
worshippers  form  a  circle  or  a  row,  holding  each  other's 
hands,  advancing  and  retreating  in  unison,  and  stamp- 
ing with  the  feet.  Beginning  slowly  to  repeat  the  divine 
name  with  clear  enunciation  and  solemn  dignity,  they 
gradually  work  themselves  up  into  such  a  state  of  excite- 
ment that  the  rapidly  uttered  words  become  mere  sounds 
without  meaning.  The  swaying  body  keeps  pace  with  the 
tongue.  Physical  exhaustion  naturally  follows  this  furious 
exercise  of  lungs  and  limbs.  But  sometimes  with  the  Refa'- 
'iyeh  (called  the  howling  dervishes  on  account  of  the  shrieks 
they  emit  during  the  performance),  before  the  collapse 
comes,  the  frenzy  induced  by  the  zikr  leads  them  into  hor- 
rible demonstrations  of  their  boasted  immunity  from  the 
burning  of  fire,  such  as  licking  red-hot  irons,  biting  them 
and  cooling  them  in  the  mouth.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
the  will  of  the  dervish  is  often  weakened  and  his  intellect 
deadened,  not  only  by  the  mechanical  repetitions  but  by 

1  See  E.  Sell  (op.  tit.},  pp.  112-115. 

2  At  Damascus  the  Mowlawiyeh,  who  devote  Thursdays  to  the  whirl- 
ing function,  have  semi-weekly  zikrs  on  Mondays  and  Fridays.     In 
some  orders  at  Constantinople  they  are  even  more  frequent. 


258       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

the  subsequent  scenes  of  excitement.  The  zikrs  are  respon- 
sible for  some  but  by  no  means  for  all  the  feeble-minded 
dervishes.  Sainthood  in  Islam  is  not  held  to  be  incom- 
patible with  congenital  idiocy.  Ibn  Khaldun  distinguishes 
between  the  insane  person  whose  logical  reasoning  has  be- 
come corrupt  and  the  idiot  who,  notwithstanding  the  lim- 
itations which  prevent  his  conforming  to  legal  conditions, 
may  still  exhibit  a  distinct  turn  for  religious  meditation 
and  devotion.1 

This  concerted  zikr  of  the  dervishes  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  popular  function  called  zikr-bettaqlid',  or 
imitation  zikr,  practised  by  the  uninitiated,  though  the  dif- 
ference appears  to  be  largely  subjective  and  theoretic,  as 
dervishes  often  unite  with  laymen  in  the  same  function. 
According  to  strict  doctrine,  through  the  imitation  zikr 
laymen  may  obtain  protection  against  their  enemies  but 
not  that  mystical  union  with  God  produced  by  the  zikr  of 
initiation.  The  popular  zikr  is  commonly  held  in  mosques. 
A  function  of  this  sort  is  conducted  weekly  on  Fridays 
in  the  Khankey  mosque  in  Jerusalem,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  family  of  the  'Alamy  who  control  the  mosque  and 
its  endowments.  Similar  assemblies  are  found  in  private 
houses.  On  a  summer's  night  you  may  be  disturbed  in  a 
Moslem  town  by  what  sounds  like  a  railway  engine  violently 
puffing  and  panting,  but  going  to  the  window  you  will 
perceive  that  the  noise  proceeds  from  a  neighborhood 
prayer-meeting,  where  the  brethren  have  the  increase  of 
power  on  them,  as  the  words  come  faster  and  faster,  louder 
and  louder:  "Allah  Hai!  Allah  Hai! — God  is  Living! 
God  is  Living!" 

In  the  tekkehs  of  the  Mowlawiyeh  there  also  takes  place 
the  sacred  dance  which  gives  to  them  the  name  of  whirling 
dervishes.  In  Koniah  and  Constantinople  this  is  practised 
all  through  the  year;  in  Damascus  and  Hums  on  Thursday 
evenings  for  eight  months,  exclusive  of  parts  of  winter  and 
summer;  and  in  Tripoli  usually  during  the  spring  season 
only.  The  dancing  is  said  to  represent  the  revolving  of  the 
spheres  as  well  as  the  circling  movement  of  the  soul  caused 
1  Quoted  by  D.  B.  Macdonald  (op.  tit.),  pp.  103  and  104. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  259 

by  the  vibration  of  its  love  to  God.1  The  participants  wear 
voluminous  bell-shaped  skirts.  After  prayers  led  by  the 
sheikh  they  file  in  stately  procession  before  their  master, 
reverentially  saluting  him  with  a  low  bow,  each  in  turn. 
This  function  is  repeated  several  times.  Then  follows  the 
circling.  When  the  dancer  glides  on  to  the  floor  his  head 
is  inclined  and  his  arms  are  stretched  out;  the  fingers  of  one 
hand  are  raised,  those  of  the  other  are  held  drooping,  sym- 
bolical of  his  being  the  medium  of  grace,  received  from 
heaven  to  be  dispensed  on  earth.  During  the  whirling  the 
eyes  are  shut.  As  the  pace  increases  the  skirts  spread  out 
around  the  dancer  like  a  wheel  or  disk.  When  exhausted 
he  takes  a  rest,  but,  again  resuming,  glides  into  the  circle 
for  another  round.  On  the  floor  there  may  be  several  dan- 
cing together  or  not  more  than  one  at  a  time.  The  dance 
may  last,  with  brief  pauses  for  prayer,  for  two  hours,  at 
the  close  of  which  the  sheikh  himself  takes  part. 

Such  are  some  of  the  practices  that  enter  into  the  life  of 
the  dervish,  formal  methods  by  which  the  life  is  expressed, 
parts  of  the  machinery  of  the  dervish  organization.  To 
the  Western  traveller  witnessing  the  public  performances 
at  Constantinople  or  Cairo  they  can  give  no  possible  clew 
to  the  principles  of  the  orders.  What  these  principles  are  in 
essence  is  expressed  by  a  definition  given  in  my  hearing  by 
a  learned  sheikh  of  the  Shaziliyeh,  the  most  spiritual  order. 
"The  Ways,"  he  said,  are  "simply  means  of  turning  the 
mind  to  spiritual  things."  To  this  semi-official  definition  I 
would  add  the  unprejudiced  generalization  of  Baldensperger, 
arrived  at  empirically  by  long  observation  of  the  dervishes 
themselves  and  by  knowledge  of  the  estimate  in  which 
they  are  held  by  the  Moslem  peasants  of  Palestine,  among 
whom  he  was  brought  up  and  with  whom  he  had  business 
relations  for  years.  "The  general  idea  of  these  dervishes 
and  the  reason  why  they  exist  is  that  they  may  not  sin.  By 
wearing  bad  clothing,  being  absorbed  in  prayer,  having  no 
earthly  comfort,  and  going  about  asking  alms  they  are  sup- 
posed to  keep  themselves  pure,  and  the  more  welies,  nebies, 
and  holy  places  they  visit  the  more  they  have  merit  before 
>  See  E.  Sell  (op.  cit.\  p.  120. 


260       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

God."  *  Baldensperger  adds  an  illustration  of  the  search- 
ings  of  heart  that  may  accompany  the  resolution  of  an  "  un- 
recognized dervish"  to  become  a  faqir:2  "A  dervish  in  my 
service  was  trying  to  qualify  himself  for  becoming  a  wander- 
ing dervish.  But  he  was  irascible,  and  that  would  not  do  for 
a  good  dervish.  He  was  fond  of  arms  and  shooting,  but 
extinguishing  life,  even  that  of  a  caterpillar,  was  sinful  in  a 
dervish.  He  was  also  fond  of  good  dress  and  was  sorry  for 
it.  He  went  twice  on  foot  from  Jaffa  to  Baghdad  to  visit 
as  many  welies  (shrines)  as  possible,  and  he  hoped  by  the 
grace  of  'Abd-el-Qadir,  in  Baghdad,  to  become  converted. 
On  one  trip  he  was  absent  eight  months,  suffered  hunger 
and  thirst  and  fatigue  through  the  Syrian  desert,  even  wore 
bad  clothing  in  the  time  of  his  pilgrimage,  never  omitted  the 
five  regular  prayers  and  his  own  voluntary  prayers,  but 
after  all  returned  to  his  passions — good  clothing,  bearing 
arms  and  ill  temper.  The  good  fellow  was  much  perplexed 
about  it,  and  told  me  that  he  could  be  no  real  good  dervish 
as  long  as  he  did  not  put  aside  all  these  sins,  that  he  knew 
dervishes  who  even  let  themselves  be  beaten  without  reply. 
He  even  went  further  and  said  the  thirty-eighth  to  forty- 
second  verses  of  the  fifth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel 
[relating^  to  non-resistance  of  evil]  seem  to  be  wholly  written 
for,  and  ought  to  be  kept  by,  a  real  dervish.  A  dervish  is 
never  completely  sanctified  until  he  has  done  all,  and  then 
he  may  see  angels."  3  Whether  this  tortured  soul  arrived  at 
peace  or  not  we  cannot  know,  for  this  burst  of  confidence 
to  his  master  was  followed  by  scruples  against  further  talk 
about  his  dervishhood,  and  later  he  left  Mr.  Baldensperger's 
service. 

The  last-named  authority  asserts  that  the  fellahin,  as  a 

1  See  Baldensperger's  article  (op.  dt.},  p.  37.  An  extreme  illustration 
of  fanatical  self-mortification  that  would  seem  to  be  almost  in  defiance 
of  the  ceremonial  law  is  given  by  the  same  writer  on  pp.  31-32, 
where  he  asserts  that  the  Bedawiyeh  dervishes  "  drink  the  water  which 
remains  from  the  hand-washings  of  an  assembly."  The  practice  of  let- 
ting the  hair  grow  long,  he  declares,  is  to  encourage  vermin  and  thus 
increase  discomfort  (p.  34). 

9  Compare  with  p.  239. 

8  See  Baldensperger's  article  (op.  cit.),  p.  37. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  261 

mass,  believe  the  dervishes  to  be  really  holy,  and  respect 
them,  "even  kissing  their  hands  when  they  are  known."1 
A  Jerusalem  friend  of  mine,  a  Moslem  of  humble  origin, 
but  educated  by  English  and  American  missionaries,  claims 
that  there  is  true  piety  to  be  found  among  the  followers  of 
the  orders.  Few  stories  are  told  of  the  abuse  by  dervishes 
of  the  freedom  with  women  which  their  position  permits 
them.  Baldensperger  remarks  that  the  jealousy  of  the 
fellahin  would  not  permit  this.  He  instances  an  unmarried 
dervish  who  lost  caste  and  the  respect  of  the  people  when 
he  was  found  guilty  of  flagrant  unchastity.  Dervishes 
who  persist  in  unworthy  conduct  may  be  beaten  by  their 
fellows,  and  finally  expelled  from  the  order.2  There  are  poor 
sheikhs  of  notably  blameless  life  before  whom  high  govern- 
ment officials  of  Jerusalem  rise  from  their  seats.  Faqirs 
may  be  transported  by  ship  from  one  port  to  another,  at 
government  expense,  on  the  recommendation  of  a  sheikh 
of  the  order.  A  story  related  in  our  first  section  illustrates 
the  ready  hospitality  heaped  upon  travelling  faqirs.3  The 
dervish  is  in  a  way  sacrosanct.  The  khatib — teacher  or 
scribe — of  a  village  near  Beit  Dejan,  who  composed  a  set 
of  scurrilous  verses,  lampooning  a  half-blind  dervish  so 
cleverly  that  they  were  sung  by  the  shepherd  lads,  was 
condemned,  by  the  assembled  members  of  the  order  to 
which  the  libelled  one  belonged,  to  pay  a  fine  of  one  thou- 
sand pounds  of  rice  and  one  hundred  "  sacrifices."  Finding 
that  he  could  not  obtain  pardon  without  paying  the  fine  in 
full,  he  disappeared  from  the  village,  and  kept  away  for 
some  time,  presumably  till  the  matter  blew  over.4 

Two  dervishes  I  remember  on  whose  peaceful  faces  shone 
the  unmistakable  reflection  of  a  pure  purpose  of  living — 
such  a  look  as  one  may  see  on  the  face  of  some  humble  fol- 
lower of  the  Salvation  Army.  One  of  these,  Sheikh  Mo- 
hammed, a  lowly  artisan  of  Jerusalem,  I  saw  for  but  an 
hour,  but  in  that  hour  he  opened  his  heart.  Like  Sheikh 
Sa'ad-ed-Din  he  had  his  spiritual  pedigree,  but  unlike  him 
he  made  little  of  it.  "The  main  matter,"  he  said  very 

1  Ibid,  p.  34.  2  Ibid,  p.  35.  8  P.  233. 

4  See  Baldensperger 's  article  (op.  cit.},  pp.  25-29. 


262       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

simply,  when  I  referred  to  the  diploma,  "  is  that  the  thoughts 
and  the  heart  should  be  pure."  He  admitted  that  he  was 
called  to  heal  folk  by  his  touch,  but  declared  that  the  miracu- 
lous manifestations  of  his  father  were  no  longer  possible  in 
these  days,  when  the  people  are  no  longer  good.  One  is 
inevitably  reminded  that  not  many  mighty  works  could  be 
done  in  Nazareth  "because  of  their  unbelief."  What  a 
flame  lighted  up  Sheikh  Mohammed's  sweet  eyes,  and  what 
a  ring  sounded  in  his  gentle  voice,  when  he  rehearsed  these 
wonderful  doings  of  the  sheikh,  his  father,  in  a  story  which 
I  shall  presently  repeat.  There  was  clearly  a  spiritual  kin- 
ship between  him  and  old  Sheikh  Salim,  who  was  one  of 
my  diggers  when  I  was  excavating  Lachish  of  the  Amorites 
many  years  before.  Patiently,  conscientiously,  this  gentle 
workman  would  toil  all  day,  with  little  to  distinguish  him 
from  his  fellows,  save  that  most  of  these  had  to  be  watched, 
while  he  could  be  trusted  to  do  the  same  amount  of  work 
whether  the  foreman  were  looking  or  not.  But  sometimes 
at  night  the  power  would  fall  upon  him.  Then  would  he 
sway  to  and  fro,  braying  like  a  donkey,  or  growling  like  an 
angry  camel,1  and  once  he  started  across  the  field  at  full 
speed,  and  had  not  the  young  men,  giving  chase,  caught  up 
with  him  and  brought  him  back,  he  would  have  gone  flying 
through  the  air  to  Mecca — so  at  least  the  young  men  told 
me!  Baldensperger  speaks  of  a  dervish  who  "in  his  fits  of 
fanaticism,"  ran  naked  over  the  rocks  to  meet  his  Lord  the 
Bedawy.2  Other  stories  of  the  flying  powers  of  holy  men 
have  come  to  me  and  one  of  a  sheikh  who  walked  on  the 
waves  of  the  sea  at  Constantinople,  refusing  to  take  a  gov- 
ernment reward  in  recognition  of  this  proof  of  his  holiness. 
Baldensperger  states  that  during  the  Turco-Russian  war 

1  Baldensperger  tells  of  a  female  dervish  at  Sidna  'All,  north  of  Jaffa, 
consecrated  as  the  prophet's  foal,  who  went  about  expressing  her  de- 
mand for  alms  by  neighing,  without  speaking.     In  an  appended  note 
Dr.  Chaplin  states  that  she  "  was  suffering  from  a  peculiar  nervous  af- 
fection, not  very  uncommon  among  girls  in  Palestine,  which  seems  to 
compel  those  laboring  under  it  to  go  about  imitating  the  sounds  of 
animals."     See  Baldensperger 's  article  (op.  cit.),  p.  36. 

2  Ibid,  p.  34. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  263 

"  many  dervishes,  also  as  gray  falcons,  used  to  hover  over 
the  Turkish  army  and  to  catch  the  shells  and  musket  balls 
as  they  flew."  1 

Let  me  at  this  point  repeat  the  story  that  Sheikh  Mo- 
hammed of  Jerusalem  told  me  of  his  father,  for  it  is  impor- 
tant in  illustrating  just  the  miraculous  powers  that  are  as- 
sociated with  lives  believed  to  be  genuinely  holy.  These 
are  quite  different  from  the  tricks  of  magic  practised  by 
many  dervish  sheikhs,  but  by  no  means  exclusively  by  them. 
Here,  then,  is  the  story  of  the  old  sheikh  and  the  Turkish 
pasha.  Once  on  a  time,  not  many  years  ago,  the  dervishes 
of  Jerusalem  assembled  in  the  great  court-yard  of  the  haram, 
or  mosque  of  Omar,  and  began  to  make  a  loud  noise  with 
their  drums  and  cymbals.  Their  head  sheikh  happened  to 
be  absent.  Presently  there  came  to  them  a  messenger  from 
the  pasha  in  the  government  house,  or  seraya,  near  by,  with 
orders  to  stop  the  noise.  Troubled  in  mind,  they  consulted 
another  dervish  living  in  the  enclosure,  who  answered, 
somewhat  oracularly:  "Authority  is  from  God."  So  they 
stopped  and  dispersed.  Meanwhile  the  old  sheikh,  chief 
of  them  all,  had  been  digging  far  away  in  the  fields.  Sud- 
denly the  power  came  upon  him,  the  pick  fell  from  his  hands, 
his  eyes  were  opened  and  he  saw  all  that  was  taking  place 
in  the  haram  court-yard,  though  this  was  out  of  range  of  his 
natural  vision.  At  once  he  went  home  and  said  to  his  wife: 
"A  disciple  is  coming  to  consult  me;  give  him  food  and 
drink,  and  bring  him  to  me."  Presently  the  disciple  came, 
ate,  drank,  and  began  to  tell  his  tale.  But  the  old  sheikh 
interrupted  him.  "  I  know  all,"  he  said.  "  The  governor  has 
stopped  the  music  of  the  dervishes.  Let  us  go  to  the  haram 
together."  When  the  old  sheikh  arrived  at  the  court-yard, 
he  ordered  that  all  the  dervishes  should  be  assembled  there 
again,  and  that  those  who  did  not  wish  to  come  should  be 
compelled.  Then  he  commanded  that  a  great  fire  of  coals  be 
made  in  the  court-yard  and  that  oil  lamps  be  hung  in  the  big 
tree.  Then,  when  the  lamps  were  kindled  and  the  fire  was 

1  Ibid,  p.  37;  compare  p.  31,  where  the  author  indicates  a  belief  among 
the  fellahln  that  the  Refa'iyeh  dervishes  may  be  changed  into  gray 
falcons,  a  favorite  form  of  incarnation  with  their  founder. 


264       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

blazing,  and  all  the  dervishes  had  come  into  a  circle,  he  gave 
the  signal  for  the  drums  and  cymbals  to  make  a  noise,  in 
comparison  with  which  the  former  had  been  silence.  The 
pasha  heard.  This  time  he  sent  no  messenger:  he  came 
himself  with  a  body  of  soldiers.  But  when  he  reached  the 
haram  entrance,  he  suddenly  became  rigid,  unable  to  stir 
hand  or  foot.  Terrified,  the  soldiers  rushed  in  to  seek  the 
old  sheikh,  but  at  first  they  could  get  no  hearing,  for  many 
of  the  dervishes  were  now  pulling  down  the  lamps  from  the 
tree  and  passing  the  flames  over  their  heads,  and  scooping 
up  live  coals  by  the  handful  and  devouring  these.  When 
at  last  they  caught  the  old  sheikh's  attention,  and  begged 
him  to  come  out  to  the  pasha,  he  said:  "  What  have  I  to  do 
with  him?  Let  him  take  his  punishment."  And  the 
music  went  on  unabated.  The  pasha  stood  stark.  At  last, 
when  the  frenzy  had  reached  its  climax,  and  the  first  chapter 
of  the  Koran  had  been  recited,  the  sheikh  rose  leisurely 
and  went  out.  With  the  words:  "  Destur' :  By  your  leave," 
addressed  not  to  the  pasha  but  to  'Abd-el-Qadir,  his  in- 
visible lord,  he  gently  tapped  the  governor's  back  with  his 
stick.  At  once  the  pasha  came  to  himself:  his  body  re- 
laxed, his  speech  returned,  and  he  plead  with  the  sheikh 
for  immunity  from  other  seizures.  Now  the  old  sheikh 
was  khalify  of  four  great  orders  and  acknowledged  four 
lords.  So,  answering  the  pasha,  he  said:  "You  have  one 
sultan,  I  have  four;  you  rule  over  the  people  in  seraya;  you 
cannot  control  the  dervishes  of  God."  And  he  turned  away. 
The  governor  went  home,  but  a  terrible  chill  fell  on  him. 
Again  they  sent  for  the  old  sheikh;  again  he  said:  "What 
have  I  to  do  with  him?  Let  him  take  his  punishment." 
Finally,  he  took  a  cup  of  water,  prayed  over  it — the  exact 
words  of  Sheikh  Mohammed  were  "read  over  it" — and 
said,  "Let  the  pasha  drink  this:  he  will  rest  and  sleep." 
When  the  governor  saw  the  cup  he  said,  "  Whence  is  this  ?  " 
They  told  him:  "It  is  from  the  sheikh."  Eagerly  he 
drained  it,  the  chill  immediately  departed,  and  he  slept. 
The  next  day  he  sent  men  to  the  sheikh  begging  him  to  take 
a  present.  "Tell  the  pasha  I  will  take  nothing  for  myself," 
was  the  answer,  "  but,  if  he  will,  let  him  make  a  dinner  for  all 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  265 

the  dervishes."  So,  on  the  morrow,  all  the  dervishes  were 
assembled  in  the  naram  court-yard,  and  before  them  was  set 
a  great  feast:  sheep  roasted  whole,  huge  platters  of  rice, 
curded  milk,  and  many  sweets.  The  old  sheikh  spread  out 
his  arms  over  the  food  and  blessed  it.  And  lo!  though  the 
dervishes  ate  each  as  much  as  he  could,  scarcely  an  impres- 
sion was  made  on  the  food,  which  kept  reappearing,  being 
miraculously  renewed.  What  remained  was  gathered  up 
on  trays  and  given  to  the  dervishes  for  distribution  among 
the  poor.  When  all  was  over,  the  old  sheikh  turned  to  the 
pasha,  who  was  standing  by,  and  said:  "Hast  thou  re- 
pented ?  "  "  Wullah,"  said  he.  "  By  almighty  God,  I  have 
repented." 

Here,  then,  we  have  an  excellent  illustration  of  what  are 
regarded  as  legitimate  means  which  pious  dervishes  may 
employ  in  dealing  with  the  world  of  marvel  and  of  mystery : 
second-sight,  the  gift  of  healing,  contact  with  fire  without 
burning,  and  other  powers  over  nature.  Miraculous  powers 
are  supposed  to  be  derived,  mediately  through  the  chain 
of  sainthood,  from  the  founders  of  the  orders.  The  exer- 
cise of  healing  powers  is  the  most  common.  The  uncle  of 
a  Moslem  friend  of  mine,  resident  on  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
being  afflicted  with  a  disease  of  the  feet,  called  in  a  dervish 
sheikh,  who  repeated  some  prayer  or  incantation,  struck 
the  feet  with  his  mantle,  anointed  them  with  his  saliva, 
accepted  the  proffered  fee,  or  rather  gratuity,  and  departed. 
I  fancy  that  I  myself  was  the  subject  of  dervish  treatment 
when,  many  years  ago  in  Palmyra,  a  splendid  old  sheikh 
volunteered  to  cure  a  violent  headache  of  which  I  com- 
plained. With  his  fingers,  made  soft  and  supple  by  daily 
use  of  the  famous  sulphur  stream,  he  crumpled  up  my  fore- 
head, muttering  indistinctly  the  while,  and  finally  declaimed 
in  a  loud  voice:  "In  the  name  of  God,  the  Merciful,  the 
Compassionate!"  If  I  remember  aright,  my  faith  failed 
me,  and  the  cure  was  not  immediate. 

Immunity  from  the  power  of  fire  is  especially,  but  not 
exclusively,  claimed  by  the  Refa'iyeh,  or  so-called  howling 
dervishes,  who  relate  that  their  founder,  Sa'id  Ahmed  er- 
Refa'i,  once  put  his  legs  in  a  basin  of  burning  coals,  but 


266       THE    RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

was  cured  by  the  holy  breath  and  saliva  of  '  Abd-el-Qadir.1 
You  may  hear  to-day,  on  apparently  reputable  testimony, 
that  his  adherents  swallow  burning  coals,  walk  on  them, 
and  hold  red-hot  irons  between  their  teeth,  cure  being 
effected  by  the  breath  and  saliva  of  a  sheikh.  A  Jaffa 
dervish  told  me  of  a  fellow-disciple  who,  to  submit  his  powers 
to  a  test,  went  into  a  heated  oven  where  he  remained  for  an 
hour.  On  emerging,  unharmed  but  thirsty,  he  drained  dry 
a  whole  pool  of  water.  A  Christian,  sitting  by  when  this 
tale  was  unfolded,  declared  that  he  himself  had  seen  a  der- 
vish go  into  an  oven  and  stay  for  five  minutes  among  the 
loaves  and  coals. 

Power  over  serpents  is  the  especial  prerogative  of  the 
Sa'adlyeh  or  Jebawiyeh,  a  branch  or  derivative  of  the 
Refa'iyeh  with  whom  they  are  sometimes  identified.2  Once 
their  founder,  Sa'ad  ed-Din  ej-Jebawi,  so  runs  the  tale,  was 
cutting  wood  in  the  forest,  when  he  was  attacked  by  three 
snakes  of  enormous  size.  Seizing  these,  he  used  them  as 
living  ropes  to  bind  his  fagots.  Hence  his  followers  to-day 
claim  to  handle,  bite,  and  eat  serpents  without  harm.  Ac- 
cording to  Lane,  the  sheikh  of  the  Egyptian  Sa'adiyeh  at- 
tempted to  put  a  stop  to  the  practice  of  eating  live  serpents, 
which  consisted  of  swallowing  the  head  and  two  or  three 
mouthfuls,  while  the  rest  was  thrown  away.  Baldensperger 
makes  no  reference  to  the  eating  of  snakes  in  Palestine,  but 
refers  to  the  common  practice  of  carrying  them  about  in 
leather  bags  for  show  and  performance.  Among  the  varie- 
ties of  serpents  which  he  enumerates,  the  commonest  ex- 
hibited are  the  Zamenis  carbonarius  and  the  Coluber  cescu- 
lapii,  the  latter  being  often  "  as  thick  as  a  man's  arm,  and 
nearly  two  metres  long,"  while  the  only  really  poisonous 
specimen  is  the  very  deadly  Daboia  xanthina.  The  der- 
vishes, who  alone  of  the  people  know  the  difference  between 

1  The  Greeks  claim  a  similar  immunity  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  on  Saturday  of  Holy  Week,  when  they  pass  the  holy  fire 
over  their  beards  and  faces. 

2  Baldensperger  (see  his  article,  as  quoted  above,  pp.  29-31)  calls 
Sheikh  Ahmed-er  Refa'i  the  serpent-charmer,  attributing  all  the  ser- 
pent wonders  to  his  followers. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  267 

venomous  and  harmless  snakes,  thus  being  able  to  play  on 
the  peasants'  credulity,  get  rid  of  these  creatures  as  soon  as 
possible,  making  the  excuse  that  they  are  deaf  and  do  not 
hear  the  invocation  of  the  holiest  dervish.  One  is  tempted 
to  wonder  whether  this  excuse  is  an  echo  of  the  idea  that 
inspired  the  words  written  many  centuries  ago:  "They  are 
like  the  deaf  adder  that  stoppeth  her  ear!  that  will  not 
hearken  to  the  voice  of  the  charmer,  charming  never  so 
wisely."  l  It  would  seem  that  most  dervishes  take  the  pre- 
caution to  remove  the  fangs  of  the  daboia,  repeating  the 
operation  whenever  they  grow  again.2  Baldensperger,  how- 
ever, relates  that  two  simple-minded  dervishes,  sharing  the 
common  idea  that  all  serpents  are  poisonous,  and  encour- 
aged to  believe  in  their  own  general  immunity  by  their  ex- 
perience with  what  were  merely  harmless  snakes,  at  length 
chanced  upon  real  vipers,  handling  these  with  a  temerity 
that  had  fatal  results.  One  of  them,  being  bitten  in  the 
thumb  in  the  environs  of  Lydda,  "came  to  the  mosque 
and  fell  down  in  the  court,  and  died  without  letting 
the  daboia  go;  he  had  choked  her,  for  they  both  were 
found  dead."  In  case  of  a  bite  from  a  harmless  snake, 
the  wound  is  licked  by  the  dervish,  to  the  wonder  of  the 
by-standers,  who  imagine  they  are  witnessing  a  miracle  of 
healing. 

There  are  certain  seasons  in  Syria  and  Palestine  especially 
signalized  by  dervish  demonstrations.  During  the  second 
and  third  weeks  of  September,  the  month  when  thousands 
of  people  camp  out  at  the  Wady  Rubin  (Reuben),  south  of 
Jaffa,  the  swarming  dervishes  manifest  their  presence  with 
signs  and  wonders.  Curiously  enough,  one  of  these  seasons 
always  coincides  with  the  Holy  Week  of  the  Eastern  church. 
Mohammedans  frankly  explain  this  coincidence  on  the 
ground  of  a  counter-demonstration.  According  to  my 
friend  Sheikh  Sa'ad-ed-Din,  it  was  the  great  Saladin  himself, 

1  See  Psalm  58:  4-5. 

2  This   statement   is  corroborated   by  Lane   for   Egypt.     On    the 
other  hand,  while  in  Morocco,  Dr.  Talcott  Williams  examined  vipers 
carried  by  dervishes,  finding  full-grown  fangs  in  active  poisonous  con- 
dition. 


268       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

who,  counting  on  the  authority  exercised  by  the  sheikhs  of 
the  different  orders  in  Jerusalem  and  the  villages  around 
about,  requested  them  to  co-operate  with  him  in  organizing 
a  monster  procession  which  should  outrival  the  crowds  of 
Christians  thronging  about  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Easter- 
tide. This  statement  I  have  heard  abundantly  corroborated 
from  other  sources,  as  far,  at  least,  as  concerns  the  rise  of  a 
rival  demonstration  in  mediaeval  times,  though  I  have  not 
traced  to  an  authentic  source  the  alleged  connection  of  Sal- 
adin  with  the  matter.  But  whoever  may  have  been  the  gen- 
ius who  conceived  the  idea  of  the  still  popular  and  famous 
pilgrimage  on  the  Greek  Good  Friday  from  the  Holy  City 
to  the  shrine  of  Moses,  situated  on  the  hills  to  the  south  of 
the  road  leading  to  Jericho,  it  appears  to  be  certain  that 
the  Neby  Musa  mosque  at  that  site  was  erected  in  or  about 
the  year  A.  H.  668  or  A.  D.  1269  or  1270  by  el  Melik  ed 
Da'hir  and  others.  The  common  people  hold  this  to  be  the 
tomb  of  Moses,  though  the  'ulama,  or  learned,  know  that 
it  is  merely  a  memorial  shrine.  In  the  course  of  time  the 
habit  of  especial  Moslem  demonstrations  at  this  season 
spread  to  the  north,  where  they  continue  to  be  controlled 
by  the  dervishes.  At  Jerusalem,  however,  the  Neby  Musa 
feast  is  at  present  an  official  affair,  in  which  the  dervishes 
have  no  organic  part,  as  it  were,  though  they  appear  promi- 
nently in  the  procession.  We  must  confine  ourselves  to  the 
main  features  of  this  often-described  scene.  Just  before 
the  noon  prayer  on  Good  Friday,  the  holy  flag,  which  is 
kept  at  the  house  of  the  mufti,  is  carried  to  the  Aqsa  mosque, 
within  the  haram  area,  by  an  especially  appointed  sheikh 
walking  beside  the  mufti.  At  the  prayer  are  present  the 
governor  and  staff,  together  with  huge  crowds,  not  only 
citizens  of  Jerusalem,  but  folk  from  all  over  the  land,  who 
on  the  previous  night  have  packed  the  great  court-yard. 
The  procession,  headed  by  the  holy  flag,  and  the  military 
band,  leaves  the  haram  area  by  a  western  gate  and  winds 
up  the  Via  Dolorosa — a  counter-demonstration  indeed! — 
emerging  from  the  city  at  Saint  Stephen's  gate.  The  entire 
length  of  the  route  is  lined  with  spectators  of  all  creeds.  As 
the  banners  of  the  various  dervish  bands  pass  by,  women 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  269 

break  from  the  lines  to  tie  costly  silk  handkerchiefs  to 
flagsticks,  in  fulfilment  of  vows.  Some  of  the  dervishes 
wound  themselves  with  swords  and  dirks,1  being  immedi- 
ately cured  by  the  saliva  of  a  holy  sheikh.  The  procession 
pauses  at  a  gay  marquee  tent  on  the  densely  crowded  slopes 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  where  the  pasha  has  preceded  it, 
while  the  imam,  or  preacher,  reads  or  recites  a  prayer  com- 
posed for  the  occasion.  After  a  salute  for  the  sultan,  the 
holy  flag  is  furled  and  packed  in  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  for 
the  rest  of  the  journey.  The  band,  most  of  the  soldiers, 
and  many  of  the  spectators  now  return  to  the  city.  The 
diminished  procession,  however,  may  be  reinforced  by 
other  bands  of  dervishes,  who  have  preceded  it  to  the  Jewish 
cemetery.  Over  the  barren  eastern  hills  it  winds  till  it 
reaches  the  shrine  of  Moses  where,  for  days  before,  tens  of 
thousands  have  been  assembling:  Bedawin  from  beyond 
Jordan,  merchants  from  Damascus,  pilgrims  from  Baghdad, 
holy  men  from  all  parts.  There  is  plenty  of  food  for  all 
during  the  five  or  six  days  of  the  pligrimage,  as  the  endow- 
ment of  the  shrine  furnishes  generously  piled  platters  for 
those  who  have  brought  no  supplies.  So  liberal  is  the  gen- 
eral provision  for  this  occasion  that  the  mufti  has  funds  at 
his  disposal  for  the  hire  of  donkeys  to  transport  poor  people 
from  Jerusalem.  All  through  the  week  the  services  of  the 
dervishes  are  in  demand  to  furnish  music  in  connection 
with  the  festivities  at  the  circumcision  of  boys  which  may 
take  place  of  an  afternoon  at  the  mosque.  On  the  follow- 
ing Thursday  the  flag  is  borne  back  to  the  house  of  the 
mufti  with  similar  rites. 

As  already  stated,  similar  Moslem  demonstrations  occur 
during  Greek  Holy  Week  at  many  points  in  Syria.  At 
Hums  and  elsewhere  the  festival  is  known  as  Khamis  el 
Mushey'yakh,  or  the  Sheikhs'  Thursday,  for,  in  contrast 
with  the  Neby  Musa  function,  the  affair  is  managed  by  the 
dervishes,  while  the  'ulama,  or  doctors  of  the  law,  merely 

1  According  to  Baldensperger  these  are  the  especial  practices  of  the 
Bedawiyeh  dervishes.  "In  processions  they  are  very  wild,  beating 
themselves,  and  sticking  great  pins  into  their  cheeks  and  near  their 
eyes;  they  stand  on  swords,  eat  cactus  leaves,"  etc.  (p.  31). 


270       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

tolerate  without  approving  it.1  The  details  are,  of  course 
subject  to  government  regulation.  For  example,  the  cere- 
mony of  the  da"si,  or  dow'si  (literally  the  trampling),  is 
sometimes  forbidden.  This  practice  is  common  on  the  plain 
of  the  Buka'a,  north  and  south  of  the  Damascus  road,  at  Burr 
Elias,  and  at  Qubb  Elias,  where  I  once  saw  it.  A  score  of 
men  lie  on  the  ground,  side  by  side,  while  over  this  human 
roadway,  closely  lined  by  eager  spectators,  walks  a  horse 
mounted  by  a  dervish  sheikh,  whose  holiness  is  supposed 
to  insure  those  trodden  against  any  damage.  According 
to  Lane  this  ceremony  is  practised  in  Egypt  by  the  Sa'adi- 
yeh.2  It  was  not  attempted  at  hums,  as  far  as  I  heard,  in 
1909,  when,  in  company  with  many  thousand  out-of-town 
visitors,  I  witnessed  the  great  annual  procession,  which 
leaves  the  mosque  of  Baba  'Omar,  to  the  west  of  the  town, 
after  the  noon  prayer  on  the  Greek  Maundy  Thursday, 
arriving  at  the  mosque  erected  over  the  tomb  of  Khaled, 
the  Sword  of  God,  for  the  afternoon  prayer  and  returning 
over  the  same  route  the  next  day.  Presumably  on  account 
of  the  very  unpropitious  weather,  the  affair  did  not  go  off 
with  the  swing  and  spirit  which  I  had  been  led  to  anticipate 
by  the  accounts  I  had  received  from  American  and  other 
friends  who  had  been  eye-witnesses  on  former  occasions. 
Accordingly,  with  the  description  of  what  was  seen  by  my- 
self and  the  rest  of  the  party  are  here  included  a  few  other 
observations,  equally  authenticated.  The  procession  is  di- 
vided into  four  or  five  bands  representing  as  many  der- 
vish orders.  The  chief  figure  of  each  band  is  the  mounted 
sheikh,  who  is  followed  by  several  mounted  khalifies  or 
deputies,  and  preceded  by  the  bearers  of  the  huge  standard 
of  the  order  and  by  groups  of  musicians  performing  on 
drums,  cymbals,  and  tambourines.  The  whole  procession 
is  supposed  to  be  under  supernatural  influences.  Some- 
times the  standard-bearers  clutch  the  pole  to  prevent  the 
sacred  flag  from  ascending  to  heaven.  Sometimes  it  is  the 

1  This  is  probably  a  traditional  attitude,  representing  a  different  point 
of  view  in  regard  to  religious  matters.     With  the  'ulama  the  law  is  pre- 
dominant, with  the  orders  it  is  the  spirit. 

2  This  same  ceremony  is  not  unknown  in  Jerusalem. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  271 

sheikh  himself  whose  limbs  are  grasped  lest  he  vanish  into 
the  skies.  Sometimes  a  horse  is  seized  with  some  possession 
and  refuses  to  budge  till  the  sheikh  riding  him  bends  over 
and  whispers  in  his  ear.1  Sometimes  a  sheikh  is  filled  with 
"the  power,"  shaking  and  muttering  as  he  rides  on.  Chil- 
dren are  held  up  to  receive  the  blessing  of  the  holy  men. 
Often  the  procession  halts  to  give  an  opportunity  for  the  ex- 
hibition of  miraculous  feats.  One  we  ourselves  saw  several 
times  repeated.  The  actors  were  four,  all  shouting  "  Allah ! 
Allah!"  as  the  performance  went  on.  Into  a  small  ring, 
immediately  formed,  strode  a  dervish,  stripped  to  the  waist, 
grasped  a  sword  firmly  by  both  ends,  bent  himself  double 
so  as  to  press  the  blade  into  his  abdomen,  and  remained  in 
that  position  while  a  khalify,  or  deputy  sheikh,  mounted  on 
his  naked  back  and  jumped  up  and  down  in  order  to  drive 
the  blade  home  into  the  body  of  the  man  below,  steadying 
himself  meanwhile  by  bearing  his  hands  upon  the  shoulders 
of  two  dervishes,  the  one  to  the  right,  the  other  to  the  left. 
When  this  acrobatic  group  became  disentangled,  the  khalify 
drew  his  finger  across  his  own  mouth,  and  then  anointed 
with  his  healing  saliva  the  man's  abdomen,  which  the  lat- 
ter had  carefully  kept  covered  with  one  arm  since  it  was 
"  wounded."  Sometimes  the  sword  is  supposed  to  have  been 
previously  rendered  innocuous  by  the  tongue  of  the  sheikh, 
which  has  been  passed  along  the  entire  edge.  On  one  oc- 
casion the  sharp  eyes  of  a  Yankee  lad  saw  the  performing 
dervish  quickly  turn  the  sword  so  that  only  the  flat  side  was 
pressed  against  his  flesh.  It  has  been  proved  that  in  pierc- 
ing their  cheeks  with  stilletos  the  dervishes  often  use  old 
holes  concealed  under  their  beards.  Different  sleight-of- 
hand  tricks  are  practised.  Some  of  the  ordinary  by-standers 
are  quite  aware  of  these,  but  others  are  worked  up  to  be- 
lief in  a  vision  of  things  manifestly  impossible.  There  was 
no  mistaking  the  implicit  faith  of  the  Moslem  boy  who,  as 
he  blacked  my  boots  after  the  function,  swore  with  flashing 

1  At  the  funeral  of  a  dervish  sheikh,  recently  deceased  in  Palestine, 
the  coffin  became  "possessed"  in  a  similar  manner,  so  that  the  bearers 
were  said  to  have  been  impeded  for  several  hours  in  their  efforts  to 
enter  the  cemetery. 


272       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

eyes  that  he  had  seen  a  dervish  actually  cut  himself  into  two 
parts  which  fell  asunder,  and  which  were  then  put  together 
again  by  the  sheikh  who  cemented  them  by  his  holy  saliva! 
Sometimes  scepticism  and  credulity  exist  in  the  same  mind. 
Our  host  of  the  day,  a  young  Moslem  of  pronounced  liberal 
views,  prominent  in  the  new  regime,  somewhat  contemptu- 
ously denounced  as  tricks  all  the  demonstrations  that  we 
had  been  seeing  together,  but,  his  voice  subtly  changing, 
declared  that  he  himself  had  seen  a  Refa'i  dervish  without 
harm  run  a  dirk  through  his  abdomen  so  that  it  projected 
for  several  inches  from  his  back,  and  had  further  seen  him 
press  down  upon  his  brows  a  red-hot  molten  metal  plate! 
This  is  an  admirable  illustration  of  a  generalization  recently 
made  by  Dr.  Macdonald:  "From  one  end  of  the  Muslim 
world  to  the  other  an  unquestioning  faith  in  the  magician 
still  reigns.  Scattered  among  the  educated  classes  you  will 
meet  a  good  deal  of  Voltairean  unbelief,  but  even  these  in- 
dividuals are  liable  to  set  back  at  any  time.  The  shell  that 
separates  the  Oriental  from  the  unseen  is  very  thin."  * 

These  occasions  thus  illustrate  not  only  the  simple  healing 
powers  of  the  dervishes,  to  which,  I  have  been  assured,  the 
really  pious  members  always  confine  themselves,  but  also 
the  magical  phenomena,  often  harmless  enough,  but  some- 
times clearly  justifying  the  distinction  made  by  the  great 
Moslem  philosopher,  Ibn  Khaldun,  between  miracle  and 
magic.  "A  miracle,"  he  says,  speaking  here  especially  of 
the  miracles  of  the  prophets — "  a  miracle  is  what  is  worked 
by  good  men  for  good  objects,  and  for  purified  souls,  and 
by  way  of  proof  of  the  prophetic  office.  Magic  is  worked 
only  by  an  evil  man,  for  evil  purposes  and  for  evil  results." 
Magic  he  declares  to  be  a  form  of  unbelief.  Practitioners 
of  magic,  malicious  as  well  as  benevolent,  are  as  common 
to-day  as  they  were  in  the  days  of  Moses,  who  had  to  contend 
with  the  professionals  of  Pharaoh's  court.  The  practising 
diviners  of  Syria  are  by  no  means  exclusively  dervish  or 
even  Mohammedan.  An  old  man  of  my  acquaintance  in 

1  "The  Religious  Attitude  and  Life  in  Islam,"  p.  126,  by  D.  B.  Mac- 
donald. 

2  Quoted  by  Macdonald  (op.  cit.),  p.  117. 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  273 

northern  Syria,  a  Greek  Christian  by  origin,  but  now  a 
Protestant,  inherited  this  trade  from  his  father,  and,  before 
his  conversion,  was  consulted  by  people  of  all  religions,  who 
had  lost  property,  who  desired  charms  or  potions  to  produce 
marital  fecundity,  or  who  came  on  similar  errands  such  as 
have  in  all  ages  and  lands  driven  folk  to  the  magician.  In 
such  matters  the  creed  of  the  practitioner  counts  for  nothing. 
Recently  the  Greek  Bishop  of  Hums  was  obliged  to  forbid 
in  church  the  women  of  his  diocese  from  consulting  a  der- 
vish sheikh  of  great  vogue.  A  se*ance  was  described  to  me 
by  a  sceptical  man  whose  mother  had  taken  him  to  a  dealer 
in  magic.  The  sheikh  first  tried  to  "gather  the  jinns,"  or 
spirits,  from  whom  he  professes  to  derive  his  information 
and  who  give  him  visions.1  Falling  on  his  knees,  he  bent 
his  head  so  that  it  almost  touched  the  ground,  shook  it 
ominously  from  side  to  side,  making  a  sucking  sound  with 
his  lips,  as  one  might  chirrup  to  a  horse,  thus  talking  with 
the  jinns.  Presently  they  snowed  him  the  desired  vision, 
which  he  interpreted.  Some  days  the  spirits  are  not  to  be 
gathered.  At  other  times  they  may  be  ensnared  by  skeins 
of  yarn,  black,  blue,  or  yellow,  brought  by  the  petitioner, 
who  may  also  present  a  black  cat  or  a  black  hen  for  the  same 
purpose.  Before  writing  a  charm,  the  sheikh  requires  to 
know  the  name  of  the  mother  of  the  recipient.  In  case  of 
malignant  magic  the  sheikh  may  make  a  profit  out  of  both 
parties.  My  sceptical  Syrian  friend  instanced  the  follow- 
ing example:  A  pays  the  sheikh  for  a  charm  to  insure  that 
his  enemy  B  should  become  possessed  of  an  evil  spirit  or, 
as  we  should  say,  go  crazy.  The  charm  is  concealed  under 
some  threshold  over  which  B  is  wont  to  pass — in  the  house, 
the  church,  or  the  mosque.  When  the  charm  works,  the 
friends  of  the  now  crazed  B  come  to  the  sheikh,  begging 
him  to  discover  the  place  where  a  charm  may  be  hidden. 
At  the  likely  places  he  goes  through  his  prayers  and  incanta- 
tions till  he  "discovers"  the  charm  at  the  place  where  he 
had  known  it  to  be  put.  The  paper  is  then  dipped  in  water, 
and  with  the  obliteration  of  the  writing  the  madness  van- 

1  Intercourse  with  the  jinns  was  authorized,  as  it  were,  by  the  great 
founder,  'Abd-el-Qadir,  who  is  said  to  have  followed  the  practice. 


274       THE  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS  OF  ISLAM 

ishes  from  B.1  The  sheikh  then  pockets  his  second  fee. 
How  B  happens  to  fall  in  with  the  plot  by  going  crazy, 
my  friend  did  not  explain.  Proof  of  the  antiquity  of  this 
black  art  in  Syria  and  Palestine  was  discovered  in  our 
excavation  of  the  Hebrew-Greek  town  of  Marissa  (Tell 
Sandahannah),  dating  from  the  second  and  third  centuries 
B.  C.  Here  were  unearthed  many  soft  limestone  tablets, 
some  in  fragments,  scrawled  with  malignant  sentiments  in 
Greek  and  Hebrew;  together  with  a  series  of  rude  figures 
or  dolls,  all  under  three  inches  in  length,  made  of  lead,  whose 
arms,  legs  and  in  some  cases  bodies  were  bound  by  ropes 
or  chains  of  iron  or  bronze.2  According  to  the  principles 
of  magic,  this  torture  was  supposed  to  be  duplicated  by  the 
agony  of  the  persons  whom  these  dolls  were  made  to  repre- 
sent. Parallel  practices  take  place  in  Italy  to-day. 

In  closing  this  chapter,  emphasis  should  be  laid  on  the 
fact  that  it  necessarily  gives  but  a  superficial  account  of 
its  subject.  The  point  of  view  is  from  without.  What 
the  inner  dervish  life  may  be  we  can  only  form  a  vague  guess 
based  on  such  rare  confessions  as  were  made  to  Mr.  Balden- 
sperger  by  his  dervish  servant.  Even  that  confession,  it 
may  be  remembered,  was  cut  short  by  dervish  scruples.  To 
appreciate  the  true  content  enshrined  in  religious  forms 
alien  to  our  own  requires  not  only  exact,  first-handed  knowl- 
edge of  the  forms  themselves,  but  delicate  spiritual  discern- 
ment and  keen  personal  sympathy  with  the  votaries.  If  this 
is  true  as  between  High-Churchman  and  Low-Churchman, 
Quaker  and  Episcopalian,  Protestant  and  Romanist,  how 
much  more  difficult  is  the  problem  when  it  affects  Christian 
and  Moslem!  And  the  difficulty  is  further  enhanced  when, 
in  the  place  of  the  ordinary  Moslem,  we  are  confronted  with 
the  dervish,  who  adds  to  the  common  profession  of  Islam 
the  mystical  doctrines  and  rites  of  his  order.  How  strangely 
the  doctrines  manifest  themselves  through  the  rites  has  been 

1  In  some  cases  the  water  in  which  the  charm  has  been  soaked  is 
drunk  by  the  one  concerned. 

2  See  "Excavations  in  Palestine,"  plates  86-88,  by  Bliss  and  Macal- 
ister  (London,  1902). 


THE  DERVISH  LIFE  275 

here  described.  It  is  hardly  a  matter  for  wonder  that  a 
recent  European  writer  has  declared  of  the  modern  dervish 
life  that  "the  soul  has  departed  and  nothing  remains  but 
this  external  mechanism  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  methods 
of  throwing  oneself  into  ecstasy  and  rendering  the  body  in- 
susceptible to  external  impressions."  l  Such,  indeed,  is  the 
common  Western  view.  But  that  this  view  should  be  sub- 
stantially modified  to  suit  the  real  inner  facts  of  the  case  has, 
I  hope,  been  the  indication  of  this  brief  study.2 

Baedeker's  "Handbook  to  Syria  and  Palestine,"  Introductory  In- 
formation, xciv,  written  by  Socin  and  re-edited  by  Benzinger,  edition 
of  1894. 

2  The  dervish  life  has  been  approached  in  a  spirit  of  sympathy  by 
Dr.  D.  B.  Macdonald,  in  his  two  lectures  on  "The  Mystical  Life  and 
the  Dervish  Fraternities,"  in  his  "Aspects  of  Islam"  (op.  ci£). 


CHAPTER  VI 
OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

THERE  are  other  features  of  Islam  that  call  for  notice 
even  in  this  brief  treatment.  The  bulk  of  the  chapter  deals 
with  the  status  of  woman,  including  the  subjects  of  polyg- 
amy and  divorce;  with  death  and  burial;  and  with  the  dif- 
ferences between  Sunni  and  Shi'ah;  with  a  brief  glance  at 
the  heretical  offshoots  of  Islam.  A  preliminary  word,  how- 
ever, may  be  said  about  two  matters:  temperance  and 
slavery,  which  respectively  show  Islam  at  its  best  and  at  its 
worst.  Total  abstinence  is  the  glory  of  Mohammedanism. 
It  is  as  much  a  part  of  religion  as  prayer  or  fasting.  Failure 
in  regard  to  this  precept  is  not  viewed  with  the  popular 
indulgence  accorded  to  some  moral  lapses.  Islam  hates 
strong  drink.  According  to  Mohammedan  law,  if  a  man 
is  brought  before  a  judge,  still  intoxicated,  or  even  redolent 
of  wine,  and  if  two  witnesses  swear  that  he  has  been  drink- 
ing, he  is  to  receive  eighty  lashes  if  a  free  man,  or  forty 
lashes  if  a  slave.  A  Moslem  is  usually  not  only  afraid  but 
ashamed  to  drink  before  a  coreligionist.  The  use  of  in- 
toxicants in  Mohammedan  lands  can  always  be  traced  to 
Western  influences.  Through  education  obtained  abroad, 
and  through  the  temptations  of  bars  and  saloons  kept  by 
Christians,  native  and  foreign,  drinking  is  on  the  increase 
among  all  classes  of  Moslems  in  the  seaport  towns  of  Syria 
and  Palestine,  as  well  as  in  some  interior  cities.  However, 
to  see  a  drunken  man,  of  any  religious  sect,  Christian  or 
Moslem,  is  a  rarity  in  these  lands.  The  whole  population 
is,  as  a  rule,  still  temperate.  Among  Christians  the  use 
of  wine  and  spirits  is  largely  confined  to  ceremonial  and 
festive  occasions. 

276 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE  277 

Slavery  is  so  closely  intertwined  with  the  legislative  code 
which  grips  Islam  with  an  iron  hand  that  its  official  abolish- 
ment in  any  Mohammedan  land  is  not  to  be  expected.  The 
existence  of  slavery  in  Turkey  is  scarcely  veiled.1  Arabia, 
technically  a  part  of  the  empire,  but  never  under  its  control, 
is  said  to  be  still  the  centre  of  the  African  slave-trade.  Ac- 
cording to  Doughty,  slaves  are  bought  in  Jeddah  for  distri- 
bution in  Turkey  itself.  Up  to  thirty  years  ago  a  regular 
slave  traffic  was  carried  on  between  the  Soudan  and  Aleppo 
by  caravan.  At  the  present  time  the  slaves  in  that  city  are 
mostly  females.  But  the  empire  contains  also  many  white 
slaves.  The  harems  of  Constantinople  are  supplied  from 
Circassia.  During  a  recent  winter  of  famine,  a  Mohamme- 
dan of  'Aintab  sold  some  of  his  children  in  order  to  buy  bread 
for  the  rest.  It  is  stated  on  credible  authority  that  in  Da- 
mascus alone  there  are  two  thousand  white  slaves,  male  and 
female,  amongst  the  Circassians,  and  in  the  families  of  the 
higher  class  native  Moslems.  The  females  are  mostly  con- 
cubines. The  youths  and  men  are  allowed  to  hire  themselves 
out  as  servants  on  condition  that  they  give  a  certain  por- 
tion of  their  earnings  to  the  owner.  Individuals  of  this  class 
have  obtained  freedom  from  this  state  of  slavery,  or  rather 
of  serfdom,  by  the  intervention  of  European  consuls,  but 
others  are  restrained  from  the  attempt  by  fear  of  secret  re- 
vengeful action  on  the  part  of  their  owners.  Speaking  for 
Palestine,  Baldensperger  admits  that  black  slaves  are  on  the 
whole  well  treated,  and  prefer  remaining  in  bondage  to  be- 
ing turned  loose  on  the  world.2  Their  household  work  is 
easy;  marriages  among  themselves  are  arranged  and  financed 
by  the  master;  the  acknowledged  children  of  owners  and 

1  The  statement  has  often  been  made  that  slavery  has  been  abolished 
in  the  Turkish  Empire,  but  this  is  not  so.  Thus  Baldensperger,  in  his 
article,  "Woman  in  the  East"  ("Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,"  1899,  p.  34),  says:  "Slavery  is  now  abolished  in 
Turkey — at  least  legally;  but  virtually  it  still  exists."  This  idea  prob- 
ably arises  from  the  fact  that  Moslems  in  lands  where  there  is  a  strong 
Western  sentiment  are  apt  to  keep  the  matter  of  slavery  in  the  back- 
ground. In  his  "Modern  Egypt"  (vol.  II,  p.  136),  Lord Cromer says: 
"Islam  does  not,  indeed,  encourage  but  it  tolerates  slavery." 


278  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

slave-concubines  (as  everywhere  in  Islam)  are  free  and  en- 
joy the  same  privileges  as  those  of  a  legal  wife.  By  bearing 
a  child  to  her  master  the  woman  herself  becomes  emanci- 
pated. Nor  does  color  disbar  such  children  from  assum- 
ing the  full  social  position  of  the  father.  When  I  was  living 
in  Jerusalem,  the  mayor,  a  member  of  one  of  the  great  noble 
houses,  showed  all  the  salient  characteristics  of  negro  blood. 
The  Koran  teaches  that  when  slaves  can  redeem  themselves 
it  is  the  duty  of  Moslems  to  grant  the  emancipation.  The 
prophet  is  reported  to  have  said:  "Whosoever  frees  a  slave 
who  is  a  Moslem,  God  will  redeem  every  member  of  his 
body,  limb  for  limb,  from  hell-fire." 

I.    WOMAN  AND  MAKRIAGE 

The  position  of  woman  under  Islam  to-day  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  evils  inherent  in  a  religious  and  social 
system  that  has  been  practically  immovable  since  the  death 
of  its  prophet.  Mohammed  left  woman  in  a  far  better  posi- 
tion than  he  found  her,  but  the  great  work  of  improvement 
was  arrested  when  he  died.  As  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
actual  immovability,  on  this  arrest  has  followed  deteriora- 
tion. Up  to  a  certain  point  Mohammed  is  responsible  for 
the  position  of  woman  among  his  followers  to-day.  But  it 
is  equally  true  that  if  the  principles  which  he  illustrated  in 
her  treatment  could  have  been  further  developed  in  the  his- 
tory of  Islam,  her  condition  would  have  been  far  higher 
than  it  is.1  Here  are  some  of  the  reforms  he  effected:  he 
abolished  the  horrible  custom  of  burying  female  children 
alive;  he  limited  the  number  of  contemporaneous  marriages 
to  four,  forbidding  more  than  one  unless  a  man  could  treat 

1  In  the  introduction  to  Palmer's  translation  of  the  Koran  are  found 
these  apt  words :  "  The  real  fault  lies  in  the  unelastic  nature  of  the  re- 
ligion: in  his  desire  to  shield  it  from  change  and  to  prevent  his  fol- 
lowers from  dividing  into  sects,  the  founder  has  made  it  impossible  for 
Islam  to  throw  off  certain  customs  and  restrictions  [regarding  women] 
which,  however  convenient  and  even  necessary  to  the  Arabs  of  the  time, 
become  grievous  and  unsuitable  for  other  nations  at  distant  periods 
and  in  distant  lands"  (p.  Ixxvi). 


WOMAN  AND  MARRIAGE  279 

all  his  wives  equally; *  he  established  laws  to  regulate  female 
inheritance,  and  otherwise  ameliorated  their  legal  status; 
he  recognized  women's  duties  and  privileges  in  the  matters  of 
religion;  he  took  for  granted  a  certain  amount  of  seclusion 
for  women,2  but  the  very  indefiniteness  of  his  references 
not  only  leaves  the  commentators  with  a  nice  subject  of  dis- 
pute on  their  hands  as  to  how  far  this  seculsion  should  be 
carried,  but  results  in  a  difference  of  practice.  Certainly 
the  prison  life  of  the  harem  was  never  contemplated  by  the 
prophet  of  Arabia.  Indeed,  the  covering  of  the  face  is  no- 
where enjoined,  in  so  many  words,  by  the  Koran.3 

It  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  the  evils  inherent  in  the  sys- 
tem under  which  woman  exists  in  Islam.  With  all  the  im- 

*A  liberal  Indian  Moslem  argued  in  my  hearing  that  by  this  the 
prophet  practically  forbade  polygamy,  as  to  treat  two  or  more  women 
with  equal  justice  is  an  impossibility. 

2  For  example,  note  the  following  verse  regulating  the  communica- 
tion between  believers  and  the  prophet's  wives:    "And  when  ye  ask 
them  for  any  article,  ask  them  from  behind  a  curtain,  that  is  purer  for 
your  hearts  and  for  them."     (Surah  XXXIII,  54.)     On  this  Palmer 
commentates:   "The  [Arab]  women  to  the  present  day  always  remain 
behind  a  curtain  which  screens  off  their  part  of  the  tent  from  the  rest, 
but  freely  converse  with  the  husband  and  guests,  and  hand  over  the 
dishes  and  any  other  articles  that  may  be  required  by  the  company." 
(Compare  surah  XXIV,  27-29.) 

3  The  following  verse  contains  the  nearest  approach  to  it:  "And  say 
to  the  believing  women  that  they  cast  down  their  looks  and  guard  their 
private  parts,  and  display  not  their  ornaments  except  those  which  are 
outside;  and  let  them  pull  their  kerchiefs  over  their  bosoms,  and  not 
display  their  ornaments  save  to  their  husbands  and  fathers,"  etc. 
(here  follows  a  list  of  other  near  male  relatives,  eunuchs,  etc.,  who  are 
also  excepted.     It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  Palestine  foster-brothers 
have  the  same  privileges  as  blood-brothers).     The  ambiguous  word  is 
"ornament."     The  commentator,  El-Beidhawi,  says  that  it  has  been 
held  that  the  term  includes,  by  contraction,  the  places  of  ornaments 
also,  taking  in  all  parts  of  the  body,  except  the  face  and  the  palms  of 
the  hands,  for  these  are  not  private  parts.     However,  he  adds  that  the 
only  time  when  these  can  be  shown  is  during  prayer,  as  the  whole  body 
of  the  woman  is  private,  and  not  lawful  to  any  but  her  husband,  ex- 
cept for  medical  treatment  and  when  she  is  bearing  witness. 

The  four  great  schools  of  interpretation  unite  in  regarding  a  woman's 
hair  as  "'owra"  (forbidden  or  sacred).  The  Hanafiyeh  hold  that  the 
face  may  be  seen  but  not  the  hands.  The  Shafilyeh  forbid  the  ex- 
posure of  both  face  and  hands. 


280  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

provement  Mohammed  effected  in  her  condition,  he  con- 
tinued to  regard  woman  as  man's  inferior  and,  within  the 
law,  as  subject  to  him  in  all  things.  This  idea  of  inferior- 
ity has  become  stereotyped  in  Islam.  Fear  lest  the  ancient 
tradition  may  lose  force  with  the  prevailing  of  modern 
ideas  has  been  a  strong  element  in  the  opposition  to  the  Con- 
stitution shown  by  some  members  of  the  'ulama,  or  so-called 
priestly  class.  The  main  evils  arising  from  the  traditional 
point  of  view  centre  around  seclusion,  marriage,  and  divorce. 
Seculsion  in  the  harem  practically  prevents  a  man  from 
seeing  his  destined  bride,  and  thus  prevents  her  from  any 
previous  acquaintance  with  him;  it  greatly  fosters  the  favor- 
itism, jealousies,  and  quarrels  logically  attendant  on  polyg- 
amy; and  it  so  cuts  women  off  from  the  outside  world  that 
a  weekly  excursion  to  sit  in  a  cemetery  closely  veiled  may 
be  eagerly  anticipated  as  a  diversion  and  a  relief.1  Under 
the  marriage  system  of  Islam  mere  children  may  be  legally 
united.  Not  only  is  polygamy  sanctioned,  but  concubinage 
with  slaves  is  a  recognized  right  of  the  husband.  Among 
the  lower  classes  wife-beating  is  regarded  as  a  proper  dis- 
cipline. A  man  may  divorce  his  wife  out  of  mere  caprice, 
for  no  fault  committed,  nor  cause  alleged,  and  without  any 
process  of  law.  This  arbitrary  power  introduces  an  element 
of  constant  uncertainty  into  the  life  of  Moslem  women  in 
the  circles  where  divorce  is  common.  It  is  a  saying  among 
Mohammedans :  "  When  a  woman  prepares  a  meal  for  her 
husband,  she  is  not  sure  that  she  will  be  his  wife  long  enough 
to  share  it!"  Yet  common  as  divorce  is,  it  carries  with  it  a 
certain  stigma.  A  divorced  woman  sent  back  to  her  father's 
house  may  be  relegated  to  the  position  of  a  servant.  From 
all  this  it  has  long  been  recognized  by  the  West  that  women 
born  in  Islam  are  liable  to  terrible  unhappiness  from  causes 
that  do  not  operate  under  the  Christian  system.  That  such 
suffering  does  abundantly  exist  at  points  throughout  the 
entire  Mohammedan  world  has  been  again  illustrated  in  a 
recent  book  called  "Our  Moslem  Sisters/'  which  contains 

1  Harem,  or,  more  properly,  harlm',  is  the  plural  of  hur'mah,  woman, 
and  from  the  simple  meaning  "women"  comes  to  signify  "the  place 
of  women." 


WOMAN  AND  MARRIAGE  281 

contributions  from  writers  conversant  with  Islam  in  different 
lands.  Syria  and  Palestine  are  covered  in  two  papers,  which 
agree  in  presenting  a  very  dark  side  of  the  subject.  The 
author  of  the  well-balanced  paper  on  Syria,  however,  rec- 
ognizes also  a  bright  side  which  finds  no  place  in  the  dismal 
purview  of  the  writer  on  Palestine.1  Says  the  former: 
"There  are  happy  homes  (or  so  they  seem  at  first)  where 
there  is  immaculate  cleanliness,  where  the  mother  looks  well 
after  the  ways  of  the  household  and  of  her  children,  is  ready 
to  receive  her  husband  and  kiss  his  hand  when  he  returns 
from  his  work,  where  there  is  but  one  wife  and  a  contented 
and  indulgent  husband  and  father."  2  Dr.  Wortabet,  him- 
self an  Oriental,  surrounded  during  a  long  lifetime  by  Mos- 
lem neighbors,  also  states  both  sides.  He  points  out  that 
"strong  love  may  often  be  accompanied  by  fierce  and  dis- 
ordered passions,  so  that  the  object  of  intense  devotion  may 
also  be  the  victim  of  intense  jealousy  and  consequent 
cruelty,"  but  he  also  states :  "  We  know  with  certainty  that 
there  is  much  of  domestic  love,  felicity,  and  peace  frequently 
found  in  Mohammedan  families.  The  fact  is  that  where  the 
conjugal  relation  subsists  there  is  generally  found  conjugal 
love  also,  ranging  through  all  the  degrees  of  which  the  hu- 
man heart  is  susceptible."  3 

The  writer  on  "  Women  in  Syria,"  quoted  above,  ascribes 
in  almost  every  case  observed  by  her  the  happier  condi- 
tion of  Moslem  women  to  Christian  teaching  and  example. 
The  effect  of  this  is  beautifully  illustrated  in  the  school  es- 
tablished in  Beyrout  by  the  late  Miss  Taylor  and  still  car- 
ried on  for  Moslem  and  Druse  girls.  But  there  are  certain 
elements  within  Islam  itself,  not  often  considered,  which 
operate  toward  a  similar  end.  Thus,  speaking  generally, 

1  "Our  Moslem  Sisters"  is  edited  by  S.  M.  Zwemer  and  Annie  Van 
Sommer,  the  individual  papers  being  anonymous.     The  writer  of  the 
paper,  "  Woman  in  Palestine,"  claims  that  during  twenty  years'  sojourn 
in  Palestine  she  has  had  intercourse  among  all  classes  of  Mohammedan 
women,  but  the  unqualified  pessimistic  generalizations  in  which  she 
indulges  regarding  not  only  the  position  of  women  but  the  whole  system 
of  Islam  are  quite  unwarrantable. 

2  "Our  Moslem  Sisters"  (op.  tit.),  p.  175. 

*  "Religion  in  the  East"  (op.  tit.),  pp.  230-231. 


282  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

while  it  is  impossible  to  exaggerate  certain  evils  inherent  in 
the  nature  of  the  system,  it  is  quite  possible  to  exaggerate 
their  extent  and,  to  a  less  degree,  their  results.  Take,  for 
example,  seclusion  within  the  harem.  This  naturally  ap- 
pears horrible  to  a  woman  brought  up  under  Western  civili- 
zation. But  women  bred  in  the  harem  do  not  miss  a  liberty 
which  they  have  never  known.  Among  the  higher  Moslem 
classes  charming  family  life  may  be  found.  The  spirit  of 
high  breeding  is  in  every  race  the  same  though  conditions 
of  life  may  differ  radically.  The  rather  overcolored  ac- 
counts of  that  interesting  book,  "  Haremlik,"  did  not  come 
as  a  surprise  to  Western  women  with  friends  among  the 
Moslem  aristocracy.1  But  even  granted  that,  as  a  rule,  the 
evils  of  life  in  the  harem  bear  hard  on  the  occupants,  it 
should  be  emphasized  that  these  are  confined  to  the  cities, 
and  hence  affect  only  the  minority  of  Mohammedan  women. 
In  passing  from  the  towns  to  the  country  in  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine the  traveller  cannot  fail  to  note  a  great  contrast.  The 
town  women  when  they  go  out  are  swathed  in  sheets,  white 
or  colored,  with  their  faces  hidden  by  dark  veils.  The  peas- 
ant women,  on  the  other  hand,  appear  publicly  in  their 
ordinary  dress,  leaving  the  face  and  sometimes  also  part 
of  the  hair  exposed  to  view.  The  husbands  and  fathers  of 
these  girls  are  good  Moslems,  observing  the  ordinances  of 
prayer  and  fasting  quite  as  punctiliously  as  the  majority  of 
the  men  of  the  city,  and  more  punctiliously  than  many  of  the 
highest  classes  who  keep  their  women  in  strictest  seclusion. 
In  letting  their  women's  faces  be  seen  in  public,  these  peas- 
ants are  apparently  unconscious  of  transgression,  and,  as 
we  have  already  shown,  they  are  transgressing  no  law  explic- 
itly set  forth  in  the  Koran.2  This  state  of  things  naturally 


1  See  "  Haremlik  "  (New  York,  1906),  by  Demetra  Vaka  (Mrs.  Kenneth 
Brown),  describing  the  life  of  the  high-class  Moslem  women  in  Con- 
stantinople. 

3  A  well-known  Moslem  sheikh  of  Beyrout,  whom  I  consulted  in  re- 
gard to  this  matter,  declared  that  the  peasant  women  in  exposing  their 
hair  and  hands  (which  according  to  the  Hanafiyeh  are  forbidden,  even 
though  the  face  may  be  seen)  are  acting  in  ignorance  of  the  law,  and 
hence  are  not  blameworthy. 


WOMAN  AND  MARRIAGE  283 

gives  an  opportunity  to  a  peasant  woman  of  strong  personal- 
ity to  make  her  controlling  influence  felt  in  the  household 
and  in  the  community.  Such  a  woman  I  once  met  in  a  vil- 
lage lying  in  a  deep  valley  of  Mount  Hermon,  where,  during 
the  summer,  the  inhabitants  live  in  booths.  We  were  en- 
camped not  far  from  each  other,  and  so  exchanged  calls. 
This  handsome,  dignified  matron,  who  serenely  kept  her 
face  uncovered,  had  an  authoritative  air  well  befitting  the 
sole  head  of  the  house.  From  her  little  booth  she  was  reg- 
ulating the  varied  work  of  her  estates,  which  brought  her 
in  the  princely  income  of  twelve  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  a  year:  the  herding  of  cows  and  goats;  the  thresh- 
ing of  wheat;  the  culture  of  vines  and  tobacco;  the  cutting 
of  wood.  Her  sons,  all  married  or  betrothed,  obediently 
worked  under  her  orders.  Her  husband  I  recall  as  a  mild 
man,  apparently  in  total  eclipse.  Such  instances  are  not  un- 
common in  Turkey.  Dr.  Washburn,  in  his  "  Fifty  Years  in 
Constantinople,"  speaks  of  a  Moslem  woman  as  "  the  leader 
of  the  village"  of  Hissar,  on  the  Bosphorus.  Baldensperger, 
a  prime  authority  for  peasant  life  in  Palestine,  writes:  "She 
[woman]  is  considered  as  inferior.  .  .  .  But  from  this  it 
does  not  follow  that  a  man  absolutely  commands  the  house. 
On  the  contrary,  the  fellah-woman  is  just  as  often — virtually 
—the  head  of  the  family,  and  differs  in  nothing  from  women 
in  the  rest  of  creation.  She  at  least  influences  her  husband, 
in  most  cases  for  all  things,  not  only  in  the  house,  but  in  all 
matters  affecting  their  commonweal.  ...  I  have  known 
many  fellah-women  to  manage  everything  better  than  the 
husband,  and  even  scolding  him  to  some  degree  for  any  mis- 
management, or  teaching  him  what  to  say  in  the  men's  as- 
sembly. But,  notwithstanding  this,  she  does  not  escape  a 
good  flogging  occasionally.  Yet  it  does  not  follow  that  the 
fellah-woman  is  to  be  pitied  in  being  considered  an  inferior 
being.  She  enjoys  her  life  and  liberty  to  a  certain  extent, 
at  least  in  many  instances."  * 

1  See  his  article,  "  Birth,  Marriage  and  Death  among  the  Fellahin  of 
Palestine"  ("Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund," 
1894,  p.  133).  From  the  context  it  is  possible  that  this  generalization 
is  meant  to  include  Christian  women  as  well  as  Moslem. 


284  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

This  peasant  freedom,  however,  is  not  without  definitely 
recognized  restrictions.  The  easy  relations  between  men 
and  women  follow  an  economic  rather  than  a  social  law. 
During  the  course  of  my  excavations  in  Palestine,  when  I 
employed,  in  all,  hundreds  of  laborers  of  both  sexes,  I  noted 
that  before  the  day's  work  began  the  women  and  girls  sat 
apart  with  faces  averted  and  with  veils  pulled  forward,  but 
that  when  the  whistle  sounded  for  work  they  threw  back  their 
veils  and  mingled  fearlessly  with  the  men  and  lads,  chatting 
and  joking  with  them  in  full  comradeship.  In  the  same  way 
at  home  they  would  move  freely  about  when  engaged  in 
household  duties,  but  would  not  think  of  joining  the  men 
at  meals,  or  when  they  assembled  in  the  evening  to  chat  and 
smoke.  One  is  tempted  to  speculate  whether  these  peasant 
women  do  not  preserve  the  ideal  of  feminine  conduct  enter- 
tained by  Mohammed.1  At  any  rate,  among  the  Moslem 
peasantry  actual  practice  is  better  than  the  theory  of  the 
doctors  of  the  law.  Conditions  which  tend  to  restrain  Mos- 
lem men  from  taking  advantage  of  the  license  accorded  them 
in  matters  of  polygamy  and  divorce  will  appear  in  the  fol- 
lowing brief  notice  of  these  subjects. 

Marriage  in  Islam  is  purely  a  civil  contract,  not  invali- 
dated by  the  absence  of  a  religious  ceremony,  though  this  in 
some  form,  shorter  or  longer,  is  a  usual  accompaniment. 
The  marriage  is  valid  and  binding  if  the  contracting  par- 
ties possess  the  legal  capacity  to  enter  into  it  and  if  they 


1  A  certain  amount  of  seclusion  of  women  is  found  among  the  Chris- 
tian sects  in  those  parts  of  Syria  and  Palestine  where  Western  influ- 
ences are  still  unfelt.  In  the  Greek  churches  the  women  are  often  kept 
behind  a  screen.  To  this  day  a  curtain  separates  the  sexes  in  the 
Protestant  church  in  Hums  (Emesa)  In  towns  where  Moslems  pre- 
dominate, Christian  women  go  sheeted  and  veiled  in  the  streets.  In 
the  country  districts  of  Syria  most  women  would  never  think  of  eating 
with  male  guests,  and  often  not  with  the  men  of  their  own  household. 
Baldensperger  states  that  Christian  women  in  Palestine  are  practically 
excluded  from  all  men's  society  outside  of  their  own  households. 
Jacques  de  Vitry,  who  became  Latin  Bishop  of  Tyre  in  1217,  describes 
a  similar  state  of  things  as  existing  among  the  Greek  Christian  women 
of  his  time.  ("Historia  Hierosolymitana  XXIV,"  found  in  "Bongars' 
Gesta  Dei  per  Francos.") 


WOMAN  AND  MARRIAGE  285 

give  their  mutual  consent  in  the  presence  of  witnesses.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  the  contract  should  be  reduced  to  writ- 
ing, and,  according  to  the  Shi'ah  law,  witnesses  may  be  dis- 
pensed with.  Legal  capacity  denotes  the  absence  of  the  rec- 
ognized disabilities.1  Mutual  consent  respects,  theoretically, 
at  least,  the  independence  of  the  female.  A  girl  who  has 
reached  the  age  of  puberty  cannot  be  married  without  her 
consent,  though  this  need  not  be  given  in  so  many  words, 
but  may  be  expressed  by  silence,  a  smile,  or  a  laugh.  If 
married  by  consent  of  her  guardian  during  her  legal  in- 
fancy, she  is  free  to  ratify  or  to  repudiate  the  contract,  be- 
fore two  witnesses,  immediately  on  reaching  puberty.  The 
qadhi  (judge)  of  a  Palestine  town,  however,  told  a  Syrian 
friend  of  mine  that  the  youthful  brides  of  his  district  were 
generally  ignorant  of  their  privileges  in  this  matter,  and  that 
for  his  part  they  might  remain  so,  lest  their  girlish  caprices 
should  augment  unduly  the  list  of  matrimonial  failures! 
As  to  the  witnesses,  these  should  be  Moslems,  two  males, 
or  one  male  and  two  females.  According  to  the  Koran  a 
man  may  contract  four  contemporary  marriages,  but  as  the 
law  requires  an  especial  establishment  for  each  wife,  eco- 
nomic considerations  place  polygamy  among  the  luxuries. 
Some  poor  polygamists  flagrantly  disregard  the  required 
segregation,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  women's  relations. 
It  is  my  impression  that  among  the  hundreds  of  fellah  work- 
men I  have  employed  in  Palestine  polygamy  was  decidedly 
exceptional.2  Baldensperger,  from  a  wider  range  of  ob- 
servation, comes  to  the  same  conclusion.  Even  when  po- 
lygamy obtains  among  the  poor  its  unhappiness  may  be 
mitigated  by  mutual  accommodation,  as  in  the  household 
of  one  of  my  Siloam  workmen,  where  two  wives,  one  a 
mother  and  the  other  childless,  shared  in  the  tender  care  of 

1  For  the  nine  prohibitions  to  marriage,  see  Hughes's  "Dictionary  of 
Islam,"  p.  316.     These  involve  questions  of  consanguinity,  affinity,  fos- 
terage ("milk"  relationship),  slavery,  etc.     Also  a  man  may  not  marry 
a  polytheist,  though  he  may  marry  a  Christian  or  a  Jewess. 

2  Speaking  of  the  Moslem  population,  Dr.  Wortabet  says:  "Perhaps 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  are  satisfied  with  one  wife."     (See  "  Religion  in 
the  East,"  op.  tit.,  p.  227.) 


286  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

the  children.  In  this  case  both  common-sense  and  tact  were 
exhibited,  for  a  childless  wife  is  at  a  discount  in  a  polygamous 
household,  where  the  favor  shown  to  each  wife  depends  upon 
the  number  of  her  children.  It  may  be  added  that  celibates 
of  either  sex  are  almost  unknown  in  Islam,  the  regular  ex- 
ceptions existing  in  some  of  the  more  rigid  of  the  dervish 
orders.  Early  marriage  has  been  the  rule  with  all  classes. 
With  the  advance  of  the  tide  of  Western  civilization,  how- 
ever, the  marriage  of  men  in  the  cities  is  postponed  to  a  com- 
paratively late  age.  On  the  other  hand,  the  marriage  of  a 
boy  may  be  hastened  so  as  to  evade  the  military  conscription. 
Among  the  peasants,  girls  are  sometimes  married  when  mere 
children  because  the  future  mother-in-law  needs  some  one 
to  help  in  the  house,  in  which  she  takes  her  place  with  the 
other  children,  including,  perhaps,  her  little  husband,  till  she 
is  able  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  wife.1 

The  settling  of  the  amount  of  the  dowry  is  usually  held  to 
be  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  marriage,  but  even  if  this 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  contract  the  woman  is  entitled  to  a 
certain  amount  by  law.  Part  of  the  dowry,  in  some  cases 
two-thirds,  is  payable  at  the  time  of  marriage,  the  remain- 
ing third  to  be  paid  in  case  the  woman  is  divorced  without 
her  consent  or  in  case  of  her  husband's  death.  Among  the 
peasants  this  "reserved  dower"  is  used  for  her  funeral  ex- 
penses should  she  pre-decease  her  husband.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  a  man  divorces  his  wife  because  she  has  deserted  him, 
he  is  entitled  to  receive  back  half  what  he  has  paid.  With 
the  rich  the  dowry  all  goes  to  the  girl,  to  be  spent  for  her 
jewelry,  but  among  the  poor  the  father  retains  a  part.  It 
may  be  paid  in  money  or  in  kind.  Among  the  fellahin  it 
is  often  estimated  at  so  many  camels.  The  amount  is  often 
lessened  by  a  system  of  exchanges  by  which  a  man  may 

1  Baldensperger  speaks  of  a  Turkish  captain  in  Jerusalem  who  mar- 
ried two  of  his  sons  at  one  time,  aged  respectively  ten  and  twelve.  He 
remembers  later  watching  the  boy  of  ten  and  his  little  wife  as  they 
went  together  to  a  day  school,  beating  each  other  and  fighting  along  the 
road.  The  author  speaks  of  still  earlier  marriages.  (See  his  article, 
"Woman  in  the  East,"  "Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine  Explora- 
tion Fund,"  1899,  p.  137.) 


WOMAN  AND  MARRIAGE  287 

trade  his  sister  or  daughter  for  another  man's  sister  or 
daughter.  The  popularity  of  such  double  marriages  is 
also  increased  by  a  saving  in  the  wedding  expenses,  as  one 
set  of  festivities  will  do  for  two  couples.1 

The  marriage  ceremony  may  be  performed  by  the  qadhi 
(judge),  by  the  imam  (religious  sheikh),  or  even  by  the 
khatib  (scribe).  In  any  case  a  fee  is  paid  by  the  bride- 
groom. The  ceremony  does  not  take  place  in  a  mosque, 
though  it  may  be  performed  in  the  court-house  or  govern- 
ment building.  Among  the  fellahin  bridal  parties  are  wont 
to  assemble  at  the  bridegroom's  house.  Those  present 
are  the  "officiating  clergyman,"  the  bridegroom,  the  wit- 
nesses, and  the  bride's  attorney,  or  male  representatives, 
whom  she  has  the  privilege  of  choosing  herself  if  she  has 
come  to  a  woman's  age.  The  law,  in  its  four  forms  of  inter- 
pretation, gives  the  bridegroom  the  right  to  see  the  girl  be- 
fore the  binding  contract.  As  we  have  seen,  among  the 
peasants  young  men  have  constant  chances  to  see  the  girls 
unveiled,  but  in  the  cities,  where  strict  seclusion  of  the  sex 
is  practised,  such  a  privilege  is  rarely  if  ever  exercised. 
The  city  bridegroom  must  content  himself  with  descriptions 
of  the  bride  given  him  by  some  female  relation  or  by  a 
regular  female  "broker,"  who  may  grossly  exaggerate  the 
charms  of  the  fair  unknown.  The  form  of  the  religious 
ceremony  is  left  to  the  officiating  party.  Sometimes  it  is 
confined  to  a  repetition  of  the  fat-hah,  or  opening  prayer  of 
the  Koran,  and  to  the  blessing.  More  commonly  the  ser- 
vice opens  with  the  prayer  for  forgiveness,  followed  by  four 
short  chapters  of  the  Koran,  selected  for  their  brevity  rather 
than  for  their  appropriateness,  and  by  the  profession  of 
faith.  The  officiating  party  then  requests  the  bride's  at- 
torney to  take  the  hand  of  the  groom  and  to  say:  "Such 
an  one's  daughter,  by  the  agency  of  her  attorney  and  by  the 
testimony  of  two  witnesses,  has  in  your  marriage  with  her 
had  such  a  dower  settled  upon  her;  do  you  consent  to  it?" 
To  which  the  bridegroom  replies:  "With  my  whole  heart 
and  soul,  to  my  marriage  with  this  woman,  as  well  as  to  the 

1  Ibid,  p.  140.  Compare  "Birth,  Marriage  and  Death  among  the 
Fellahin  of  Palestine  "  (op.  tit.),  pp.  132-134. 


288  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

dowry  already  settled  upon  her,  I  consent,  I  consent,  I  con- 
sent." The  qadhi  or  sheikh  then  raises  his  hands  and 
prays  for  mutual  love  between  the  pair,  as  existed  between 
Adam  and  Eve,  Abraham  and  Sarah,  Moses  and  Zipporah, 
Mohammed  and  Ayeshah,  etc.1  Mutual  congratulations 
follow.  This  marriage  contract  is  absolutely  binding  even 
if  it  is  not  made  effective  for  an  indefinite  period.  Usually, 
however,  the  wedding  festivities  and  the  actual  consumma- 
tion occur  within  a  few  days  after  the  making  of  the  contract. 
To  describe  the  wedding  customs,  which  in  many  of  their 
details  are  common  to  all  natives  in  Syria  and  Palestine, 
does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  the  present  work,  as  they 
belong  to  folk-lore  rather  than  to  religion.  The  persistence 
of  these  ancient  customs,  irrespective  of  creed,  seems  to 
date  their  origin  far  beyond  that  of  any  religious  faith  with 
which  they  now  coexist.  It  must  suffice  here  to  name  some 
curious  features  still  obtaining  in  rural  districts:  the  blow 
given  by  the  groom  to  the  bride,  as  symbol  of  his  mastery; 
the  public  dressing  of  the  groom  out-of-doors  in  his  wedding 
garments ;  the  nuqut,  or  formal  presentation  of  money  to  the 
bride  and  groom  by  the  individual  guests;  the  mimic  war, 
waged  sometimes  between  the  bride's  party  and  the  groom's 
party,  or  between  two  sections  of  the  groom's  party;  the 
announcement  of  the  consummation  of  the  marriage  by  a 
gun  fired  by  the  groom.  The  wedding  festivities  of  a  widow 
or  of  a  divorced  woman  are  at  best  "  maimed  rites."  Many 
general  features  of  the  merrymaking  are  repeated  at  the 
circumcisions.  This  rite,  though  universally  practised  in 
Islam,  is  nowhere  enjoined  in  the  Koran.  It  may  be  per- 
formed at  any  time  between  the  age  of  ten  days  and,  say, 
seven  years.  Sometimes  it  is  even  further  postponed,  but 
it  is  obligatory  before  marriage. 

Mohammedan  practice  recognizes  three  kinds  of  divorce.2 
All  of  these  take  effect,  though  only  the  first,  called  the 
most  laudable,  is  universally  recognized  to  be  regular. 
This  is  the  only  form  which  does  not  compel  a  woman  to 
marry  another  man  before  she  can  be  remarried  to  her 

1  See  Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam,"  article,  "Marriage." 
2 Ibid.,  article,  "Divorce." 


WOMAN  AND  MARRIAGE  289 

former  husband.  It  appears  to  be  rarely  used  among  the 
Sunnis.  Dr.  Wortabet,  in  his  "  Religion  in  the  East,"  takes 
no  account  of  it  in  his  treatment  of  this  sect.  However, 
from  his  notice  of  the  Metawileh  it  would  appear  that  in 
divorce  they  follow  this  first  form.1  With  the  Sunnis,  in 
ordinary  cases  the  man  need  only  say  to  his  wife  three  times : 
"Thou  art  divorced,"  or  "Thou  art  free,"  to  make  the  di- 
vorce final.  Indeed,  should  he  hold  up  three  fingers  or 
drop  three  stones  the  result  would  be  the  same.  However, 
it  is  usual  to  employ  a  formula  of  oath.2  No  charge  against 
the  woman  need  be  named  nor  cause  for  the  divorce  as- 
signed. There  may  be  found  among  the  peasantry,  how- 
ever, especially  in  small  communities,  limitation  of  the  evils 
of  divorce,  as  the  tyranny  of  the  husband  is  effectively 
tempered  by  the  fear  of  the  male  relatives  of  the  wife,  whose 
revengeful  rage  might  make  matters  very  hot  in  case  of  an 
unjust  divorce.  In  Syria  divorce  is  said  to  be  rare  among 
the  poor.  Similar  causes  operate  to  the  same  end  in  higher 
life,  mutatis  mutandis. 

In  Syria,  if  the  divorced  woman  is  friendless,  she  may  state 
her  case  before  the  court,  and,  should  she  wish  to  marry 
again,  a  husband  must  be  provided  for  her;  if  she  remains 
unmarried,  her  former  husband  must  support  her;  children 
must  be  supported  by  the  father;  if  over  seven  years  of  age, 
they  may  choose  which  parent  they  will  live  with;  under 
seven,  they  go  with  the  mother.3  In  addition  to  the  caprice 
of  the  husband  there  are  eleven  conditions  which,  according 
to  Mohammedan  law,  require  divorce.  Some  of  these  are 
favorable  to  women.  Either  party  is  divorced  from  the 
other  in  case  of  apostasy  from  Islam;  in  case  of  proof  that 
the  marriage  has  disregarded  a  recognized  disability;  or 
in  case  of  one  becoming  the  slave  of  the  other.  A  woman 
may  obtain  a  divorce  from  her  husband  if  she  can  prove 
his  physical  disability;  if  the  stipulated  dowry  is  not  paid; 

1  "  Religion  in  the  East "  (op.  tit.),  p.  278. 

2  For  the  oath  "by  the  triple  divorce,"  used  by  the  fellahfn,  see 
Baldensperger's  article  on  "Marriage"  (op.  tit.),  p.  132. 

3  See  article,  "Mohammedan  Women  in  Syria,"  in  "Our  Moslem 
Sisters  "  (op.  tit.),  p.  184. 


290  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

and  in  case  she  has  been  entrapped  into  marriage  with  a  man 
of  inferior  tribe. 

Mohammed  recognized  the  religious  duties  of  women,  but 
the  laws  of  Islam  have  gradually  woven  such  a  fabric  of 
ceremonial  ablutions  and  purifications,  necessary  before  the 
individual  is  fit  for  formal  devotions,  that  wives  and  mothers 
in  the  prime  of  life  find  it  almost  impossible  to  observe  the 
five  daily  hours  of  prayer.  Young  girls,  trained  to  pray, 
usually  drop  the  custom  at  the  critical  age,  and  this  is  seldom 
resumed  in  later  years.1  Fasting,  however,  is  more  strictly 
followed  by  women  of  all  ages.  The  provision  made  for 
the  women  of  Jerusalem  in  the  so-called  mosque  of  'Omar, 
where  especial  functions  are  held  during  the  month  of 
Ramadhan,  has  already  been  noticed.  At  this  time  women 
visit  each  other  with  greater  freedom.  As  has  also  been 
here  chronicled,  women  may  enter  upon  the  direct  "  religious 
life"  by  becoming  dervishes.  Such  cases,  however,  seem 
to  be  exceptional. 

In  the  cult  of  the  shrines,  however,  the  women  quite 
keep  pace  with  the  men.  Moreover,  they  have  their  own 
peculiar  superstitions.  Each  woman  is  supposed  to  have 
an  invisible  double,  called  a  kariny,  her  exact  duplicate  in 
disposition  and  character,  and  even  in  the  number  of  children 
she  may  bear.  If  the  woman  be  quarrelsome,  so  also  is  the 
kariny,  who  may  vent  her  spite  on  the  human  children,  even 
causing  their  death.  Against  the  power  of  such,  charms 
are  bought  from  the  diviners,  who  claim  that,  through 
these,  the  spirit-double  may  be  chained  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea. 

However  they  may  lack  in  religious  observance,  it  must 
not  be  assumed  that  Moslem  women  are  without  a  fund  of 
natural  religion,  or  to  some  degree  without  a  certain  vital 
knowledge  of  their  own  faith.  The  very  eagerness  with 
which  they  receive  the  instruction  of  Christian  missionary 
women  indicates  how  deep  is  this  natural  religious  sense. 
Something  which  nourishes  this  they  possess  in  their  own 
faith.  Those  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  know  the  spiritual 
passages  of  the  Koran  find  in  these  real  comfort.  A  Turk- 

1  See  "Woman  in  the  East"  (op.  cit.),  p.  145,  by  J.  P.  Baldensperger. 


DEATH  AND  BURIAL  291 

ish  lady  teacher,  in  one  of  the  American  missionary  schools, 
quoted  these  texts  with  the  reverence  and  faith  with  which 
her  Christian  colleagues  might  quote  the  Bible.  Nor  are 
such  instances  confined  to  the  educated  classes.  The  super- 
intendent of  a  hospital  in  Syria  described  to  me  the  peace- 
ful death-bed  of  a  poor  Moslem  woman,  whose  friends  con- 
soled her  by  repeating  the  beautiful  passages  about  God 
with  which  their  sacred  book  abounds.  According  to  the 
same  witness,  similar  instances  of  real  spirituality,  of  trust 
and  faith  in  God,  are  not  uncommon  among  the  women  of 
Islam. 

II.    DEATH  AND  BURIAL 

When  a  Moslem  realizes  that  the  hour  of  his  death  is  near 
he  asks  forgiveness  of  his  family  and  friends.  Among  the 
peasants  it  is  customary  to  give  the  wife  permission  to  marry 
again.  The  bed  is  placed  so  that  the  dying  man  lies  facing 
the  south,  or  toward  Mecca.  The  words  of  the  creed  are 
repeated  to  him  in  order  that,  so  some  hold,  he  may  be 
prepared  with  answers  to  the  questions  at  the  dread  exam- 
ination of  the  tomb.  According  to  the  belief  of  some,  at 
the  moment  of  death  the  angel  'Azrail  is  visible,  appearing 
beautiful  to  the  good  man,  terrible  to  the  evil-doer,  for  he 
not  only  announces  to  each  his  fate  but  points  out  his  place 
in  paradise  or  in  hell.  When  the  man  breathes  his  last  the 
men  go  out,  leaving  the  women  to  their  weeping,  lamenting, 
and  rending  of  garments.  For  the  men  such  expressions  of 
sorrow — indeed,  any  expression  of  sorrow — are  forbidden  as 
rebellion  against  the  decree  of  Allah.  In  fact,  they  should 
rebuke  the  women.  Before  the  corpse  is  washed  the  eyes 
are  closed  and  the  two  feet  are  tied  together  at  the  big  toes. 
Opportunity  is  then  given  to  kiss  the  face  of  the  departed, 
for  after  the  washing  a  kiss  would  render  him  ceremonially 
unclean,  and,  indeed,  no  woman  save  his  mother  or  sister  is 
permitted  to  look  upon  him,  not  even  his  wife.  The  wash- 
ing may  be  done  by  a  member  of  the  family,  but  is  usually 
performed  by  a  sheikh  or  khatib  (scribe).  It  may  be  done 
in  the  house  or  in  the  court-yard,  or  on  the  roof  of  the 


292  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

mosque.  After  the  washing  the  regular  ceremonial  ablu- 
tions, as  before  prayer,  are  performed  on  the  dead.  The 
water  then  should  be  poured  into  a  hole  in  the  ground  to 
prevent  pollution.  While  the  washing  is  proceeding  the 
sheikh  often  chants  the  creed  continuously,  and  the  blind 
men,  who  always  assemble  at  a  funeral,  may  repeat  verses 
from  the  Koran,  while  money  is  distributed  to  the  assem- 
bled beggers.  After  the  corpse  is  anointed  it  is  clothed  in 
the  regular  grave  clothes,  consisting  of  several  parts,  which 
may  include  a  white  cap  and  turban,  all  kept  in  place  by 
extra  bands  of  cloth  wound  around  the  body,  sometimes 
covering  it  entirely,  so  that  not  even  the  face  is  exposed. 
Camphor  is  often  sprinkled  inside  the  shroud,  and,  among 
the  fellahin,  when  a  bad  man  dies  they  may  slip  in  a  reed 
containing  a  paper  inscribed  with  the  words  of  the  creed  to 
help  him  in  the  examination  of  the  tomb. 

A  Moslem  funeral  should  take  place,  if  possible,  before 
sunset  on  the  day  of  the  death,  a  practice  common  to  all 
sects  in  Syria  and  Palestine.  For  a  woman  the  rites  are  the 
same  as  for  a  man.  The  coffin  is  carried  on  a  bier  to  the 
place  where  the  service  is  conducted,  which  may  be  the 
mosque,  its  court-yard  or  roof,  or  any  open  place  on  the 
road  to  the  cemetery,  but  not  the  cemetery  itself.  In  case 
of  a  rich  man  or  a  dervish  the  procession  is  an  affair  of  some 
state,  with  banners  and  chanting,  though  all  must  go  on  foot. 
Contrary  to  Western  ideas,  the  procession  moves  rapidly. 
As  merit  accrues  to  such  as  may  carry  the  bier,  this  is 
constantly  changing  hands.  As  they  walk,  the  pall-bearers 
repeat  the  fat-hah,  or  first  chapter  of  the  Koran,  while  men 
in  the  shops  or  coffee-houses  rise  in  respect  to  the  dead. 
For  the  regular  service  for  the  dead  the  reader  is  referred  to 
Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam."  If  in  a  mosque,  the  pray- 
ers are  led  by  the  qadhi  or  imam,  but  the  nearest  relative 
is  held  to  be  the  proper  person  to  conduct  them.  The  wor- 
shippers stand  erect,  without  the  usual  prostrations,  though 
the  position  of  the  hands  is  changed  from  time  to  time.  After 
the  conclusion  of  the  service,  it  is  customary  among  the 
peasantry  of  Palestine  for  the  sheikh  to  turn  to  the  people 
and  ask:  "What  do  you  testify  concerning  the  departed ?>J 


DEATH  AND  BURIAL  293 

To  this  the  conventional  answer  is:  "He  was  of  the  good 
folk";  but  in  case  of  a  notorious  evil-liver  they  may  say: 
"  Woe  to  him!"  This  curious  colloquy,  which  I  do  not  find 
mentioned  in  the  "  Dictionary  of  Islam,"  is  sometimes  re- 
served for  the  cemetery. 

At  the  cemetery  the  corpse  is  taken  out  of  the  coffin  and 
placed  in  the  grave,  which  is  lined  with  stones  and  sub- 
sequently arched  over,  so  that  no  earth  may  press  on  the 
body,  as  all  Mohammedan  sheikhs  teach  that  the  corpse 
feels  pain.  Accordingly,  the  floor  of  the  grave  is  made  soft 
with  henna  (red  dye-stuff)  and  camphor.  The  head  of  the 
grave  is  toward  the  west,  and  the  body  is  placed  on  its  right 
side  so  that  the  face  may  look  south,  or  toward  Mecca. 
Before  the  grave  is  closed  in  the  friends  may  sprinkle  dust 
on  the  corpse,  and,  among  the  fellahln,  sometimes  the  face 
is  uncovered  to  prevent  the  dead  from  swallowing  the  band 
of  cloth!  An  extraordinary  practice,  not  obligatory  but 
based  on  tradition,  often  either  precedes  or  follows  the  clos- 
ing in  of  the  grave.  In  a  loud  voice  the  sheikh  addresses 
the  spirit  of  the  dead  man,  to  prepare  him  further  for  the 
dread  visit  immediately  after  the  people  have  departed,  the 
visit  of  the  two  examining  spirits,  the  angels  Mun'kar  and 
Nakir',  with  black  faces  and  blue  eyes.  After  a  preliminary 
exhortation  emphasizing  the  reality  of  death  and  the  res- 
urrection, he  declaims:  "The  two  angels  are  now  coming 
to  thee,  and  they  will  ask  thee:  Who  is  thy  Lord,  and  who  is 
thy  prophet,  and  what  is  thy  religion  ?  By  what  hast  thou 
lived  and  by  what  hast  thou  died?  Answer  them  quickly 
and  without  fear:  Allah  is  my  God,  Mohammed  is  my 

nhet,  Islam  is  my  religion,  and  I  have  lived  and  I  have 
by  the  words  of  the  creed, '  There  is  no  God  but  God, 
and  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God ! '  '  This  exhortation, 
called  the  talqln',  may  be  elaborated,  ad  libitum,  to  cover 
other  matters  of  faith  and  loyalty.1  While  this  practice  is 
voluntary,  belief  in  the  visit  of  the  angels,  called  the  punish- 
ment of  the  grave,  is  incumbent  on  all  Moslems.  Among 
the  fellahin  it  is  sometimes  called  the  reckoning.  For  the 

1  It  is  said  that  in  Busrah  the  sheikh,  in  giving  this  exhortation,  may 
strike  the  corpse's  head  with  his  stick. 


294  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

wicked  it  is  full  of  terrors.  After  the  talqln  the  sheikh  may 
lift  his  voice  in  the  call  to  prayer.  Sometimes  the  grave- 
diggers  wash  their  implements  and  their  hands  over  the 
grave.  At  a  town  funeral  the  citizens  shake  hands  with  the 
relatives  of  the  dead,  while  the  fellahln  salute  them  by 
touching  foreheads,  and  sometimes  offer  presents.  Much 
rivalry  is  shown  by  villagers,  not  related  to  the  dead,  in  the 
matter  of  dinner  invitations  to  out-of-town  guests,  who  often 
find  themselves  in  a  state  of  agreeable  embarrassment  of 
choice.  The  relatives,  however,  may  furnish  food  to  the 
women,  who  partake  of  it  sitting  under  a  tree.  During  the 
days  of  mourning,  which  may  range  from  three  to  eight,  both 
sexes  go  to  the  grave  to  listen  to  readings  by  the  sheikh, 
which  the  dead  is  supposed  to  hear.  On  the  third  day 
there  may  be  a  "zikr"  or  ejaculatory  calling  on  the  name 
of  God.  Sometimes  food  is  brought  to  be  eaten  at  the 
grave.  The  cemetery  may  be  visited  every  Thursday  after 
the  death  occurs  and  then  annually  on  the  Thursday  of  the 
dead.  Notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  the  Koran  di- 
rected against  the  erection  of  tombs  and  monuments,  these 
are  common  throughout  Islam.  Against  this  practice  the 
Wahabis  protested  in  vain.  Some  of  the  mausoleums  are 
elaborate.  The  ordinary  cemetery  usually  shows  a  forest 
of  head-stones  in  which  there  are  often  niches  for  small 
oil-lamps,  to  be  lighted  on  Thursday  evenings.  A  turban 
surmounting  the  head-stone  indicates  the  grave  of  a  male. 
A  practice  analogous  to  the  saying  of  masses  for  the  dead 
has  already  been  described.1 

III.    THE  SHI'AH  SECT 

Thus  far  this  presentation  of  Islam  has  followed  the 
practices  of  the  Sunnis,  or  self-called  Traditionalists,  who 
form  a  very  large  majority  of  the  Moslems  of  Syria  and 
Palestine.  Scattered  over  these  lands,  however,  are  num- 
bers of  Shi'ahs,  literally  followers — that  is,  followers  of  'Ali, 
first  cousin  to  the  prophet  and  husband  of  his  favorite 
daughter  Fatima.  They  prefer  to  be  called  simply  Moslems, 

1  See  foot-note  on  p.  214. 


THE  SHI'AH  SECT  295 

though  the  term  Shi'ah  is  not  denied.  In  Damascus  they 
are  known  as  Arfadh'  (alternative  forms  are  Rafidhln  and 
Rawafidh'),  a  term  invented  by  the  Sunnis  in  the  early  days 
of  the  schism,  and  meaning  deserters,  traitors,  or  forsakers 
of  the  truth.1  The  term  Metawa'li  (plural  Meta'wileh)  is 
a  synonym  for  Shi'ah,  signifying  one  who  befriends  'Ali.2  It 
appears  to  be  only  of  local  Syrian  usage.  Under  the  desig- 
nation of  Meta'wileh  the  Shi'ahs  are  known  throughout  their 
two  chief  districts:  in  the  highlands  east  of  Sidon,  Tyre,  and 
Acre,  and  in  the  plain  of  Coele-Syria  (the  Buqa'a),  as  well 
as  in  the  district  of  'Akkar,  north-east  of  Tripoli,  in  the 
northern  and  southern  ends  of  the  Lebanon,  and  in  the 
cities  of  Sidon  and  Tyre.  South  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  the 
Shi'ahs  are  practically  unknown.  As  they  are  everywhere 
registered  under  the  category  of  Moslems  exact  statistics  are 
wanting,  but  they  must  number  at  least  fifty  thousand.3 
Probably,  on  account  of  their  distinct  physiognomy,  it  is 
often  assumed  that  they  are  of  foreign  origin.  They  cer- 
tainly turn  toward  Persia  as  the  stronghold  of  their  faith, 
but  this  is  because  in  that  land  the  Shi'ah  Moslems  are  in  the 
overwhelming  majority.  Churchill  quotes  a  tradition  trac- 
ing them  to  Bokhara.4  According  to  this  tradition  they  fled 
into  the  mountainous  districts  named  above  after  an  un- 

1  For  an  elaborate  history  of  the  word  rawafidh,  see  Appendix  A 
to  the  article  entitled  "The  Heterodoxies  of  the  Shiites,"  etc.,  by  Pro- 
fessor Friedlaender,  in  the  "Journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Society," 
vol.  XXIX,  pp.  137-159. 

2  From  J2j  (waliy'yi),  friend,  comes  the  verbal  form  j^J  (tewal'li), 
to  make  a  friend  of,  from  which  is  derived  the  progressive  noun 
J,jJCx>  (metawal'li),  plural  xJjLcx)  (meta'wileh),  one  who  makes  friends 
with.    The  Shi'ahs  understand  the  word  'Ali.    This  is  the  accepted 
derivation,  though  one  from  the  root,  ^L,  to  separate,  has  been  sug- 


Dr.  Wortabet,  writing  in  1860,  regards  eighty  thousand  as  an  over- 
estimate. ("Religion  in  the  East,"  p.  261.)  The  recent  estimate  of 
Cuinet  is  only  about  thirty-seven  thousand.  The  number  given  above 
is  a  mere  guess. 

*"  Mount  Lebanon,"  vol.  Ill,  pp.  110-111,  by  Colonel  Churchill 
(London,  1864). 


296  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

successful  rebellion.  The  Count  de  Jehay  says  they  are  sup- 
posed to  have  arrived  in  Syria  in  the  twelfth  century  with 
the  Kurdish  hordes  led  by  Saladin  and  other  chieftains.1 
Professor  Boulos  Khauli,  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College, 
points  out  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume  for  this  sect  an 
origin  in  Syria  different  from  that  of  the  Sunni  Moslems. 
From  the  beginning  'Ali  had  his  partisans  wherever  Islam 
spread.  According  to  a  tradition  of  the  Metawileh,  the 
caliph  'Othman  banished  to  Damascus  a  certain  Abu  'Ozar 
who  took  the  part  of  his  rival  'Ali.  Because  of  his  active 
influence  in  Damascus  he  was  later  transferred  to  Sarafend 
(Sarepta),  south  of  Sidon,  where  he  continued  to  preach 
the  claims  of  'Ali.  The  adherents  thus  gained  to  the  cause 
are  said  by  the  Metawileh  of  the  region  to  have  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  sect  in  Syria.  The  distinct  physiognomy 
of  its  votaries  is  easily  accounted  for  by  an  extraordinary 
exclusiveness  enforcing  through  many  centuries  marriage 
within  their  own  community.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the 
above-named  traditions  of  a  foreign  origin  may  apply  to  the 
immigration  of  certain  families  who  swelled  the  ranks  of  a 
sect  already  formed  in  Syria.  Whatever  their  origin,  they 
had  become  strongly  established  around  Ba'albek  in  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  An  early  leader  in  that 
district,  one  Harfush  is  said  to  have  given  his  name  to  the 
terrible  house  of  Harfush,  whose  members  have  held  despotic 
sway  in  the  same  region  until  quite  recent  times. 

In  order  to  make  clear  the  roots  of  the  strong  antagonism 
still  mutually  felt  by  the  Surmis  and  Shi'ahs,  we  may  be  al- 
lowed to  return  to  the  history  of  the  schism  already  touched 
upon  in  the  first  chapter.  After  the  death  of  the  prophet, 
one  party  claimed  that  the  divine  right  of  succession  was 
vested  alone  in  'Ali  and  his  descendants.  But  the  contrary 
opinion  prevailed;  Abu  Bekr,  'Omar,  and  'Othman  were 
successively  elected  to  the  caliphate;  and  twenty-three  years 
had  elapsed  from  Mohammed's  death  before  the  succes- 
sion of  'Ali  became  a  fact.  Revolt  against  the  new  caliph 
drenched  Islam  with  blood,  and  after  five  years  'AH  fell  sole 

1  See  "De  la  Situation  Le*gale  des  sujets  Ottomans  non-Musulmans," 
pp.  424-442,  par  le  Conte  F.  van  den  Steen  de  Jehay  (Bruxelles,  1906). 


THE  SHI'AH  SECT  297 

victim  to  a  threefold  puritan  plot  that  aimed  to  destroy 
also  his  rival,  Mo'awiyah,  Governor  of  Syria,  and  the  latter's 
lieutenant,  'Amr,  who  was  leading  the  revolt  in  Egypt.  The 
followers  of  'Ali  elected  his  eldest  son  Hasan,  but  he  shortly 
abdicated  in  favor  of  Mo'awiyah,  with  the  understanding 
that  he  should  resume  the  caliphate  on  the  latter's  death. 
On  Mo'awiyah's  son  Yezid,  who  ignored  this  .compact,  has 
rested  the  suspicion  of  causing  the  death  of  Hasan  by  poi- 
son, but  it  appears  to  be  the  fact  that  he  died  naturally  in 
his  bed  at  Medinah.  The  adherents  of  the  house  of  ' Ali  now 
rallied  about  his  second  son,  Hosein.  Plain,  unvarnished 
history  represents  his  death,  and  that  of  his  brother  'Abbas, 
as  the  inevitable  culmination  of  the  unequal  contest  for 
supremacy  with  the  forces  of  the  successful  Yezid.  On  the 
plains  of  Kerbela,  near  Kufa,  Hosein,  with  his  handful  of  fol- 
lowers, was  surrounded  by  forty  thousand  horsemen.  In  a 
series  of  single  combats,  marvels  of  valor  and  courage,  the 
little  band,  one  by  one,  gave  up  their  lives.  This  plain,  un- 
varnished tale  is  thrilling  enough,  but  in  the  yielding  of 
Hosein  to  an  inevitable  fate  the  Shi'ahs  see  a  voluntary  self- 
sacrifice,  a  vicarious  offering  for  the  sins  of  his  people,  fore- 
told, they  affirm,  by  the  prophet  himself.1  They  believe  that 
before  his  death  Hosein  spoke  words  like  these:  "O  Lord, 
for  the  merit  of  me,  the  dear  child  of  thy  prophet;  O  Lord, 
for  the  sake  of  young  'Abbas  rolling  in  his  blood,  even  that 
young  brother  that  was  equal  to  my  soul,  I  pray  thee,  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  forgive,  O  merciful  Lord,  the  sins  of  my 
grandfather's  people,  and  grant  me,  bountifully,  the  key 
of  the  treasure  of  intercession."  No  wonder  that  for  the 
descendants  of  those  men,  through  whose  malignant  agency 
they  believe  that  this  atonement  was  accomplished,  the 
Shi'ahs  have  nothing  but  fierce  hatred!  Even  thus,  but  far 
less  poignantly,  do  the  Christians  of  the  land  regard  the  Jews 

1  The  common  people  in  Persia  are  said  to  include  all  Hosein  'a 
fellow-martyrs  on  that  day  as  actors  in  this  vicarious  atonement. 

2  See  p.  245  of  the  chapter  called  a  "  Persian  Miracle  Play,"  in  "  Stud- 
ies in  a  Mosque,"  by  Stanley  Lane  Poole  (London  and  Sydney,  1893). 
Our  notice  of  this  play,  which  follows,  is  based  upon  Poole's  description. 
The  passion  play  may  be  given  also  at  other  seasons. 


298  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

whose  ancestors  they  hold  to  have  been  agents  in  the  tragedy 
of  the  crucifixion.  This  hatred  is  fanned  anew  into  flames 
at  the  beginning  of  each  Moslem  year.  Among  the  Shi'ahs 
the  woes  of  the  house  of  'Ali  are  commemorated  during 
the  first  ten  days  of  Moharram,  known  as  the  'Ashura. 
Only  the  tenth  day  is  observed  by  the  Sunnis,  and  for  quite 
another  reason :  the  creation  of  Adam  and  Eve,  of  heaven 
and  hell,  etc.,  etc.  In  some  places  this  is  kept  as  a  fast,  but  I 
am  told  that  in  parts  of  Syria  the  Sunnis  make  of  it  a  New- 
Year's  feast,  wearing  gay  garments  and  going  forth  to  pic- 
nics, thus  widening  the  breach  between  them  and  their 
Metawileh  neighbors,  whose  grief  and  mourning  culminate 
on  this  tenth  day,  the  Good  Friday  of  their  passion  season. 
The  manner  of  the  commemoration  varies  in  different 
lands.  In  Persia  and  India  it  takes  the  form  of  a  passion 
play,  following  for  ten  days,  with  two  performances  a  day, 
the  events  of  the  tragic  .history  that  terminated  at  Kerbela 
with  the  martyrdom  of  Hosein.  For  ten  days  in  every  Per- 
sian town  the  streets  are  filled  with  mourners,  groaning, 
weeping,  casting  dust  on  their  heads,  wounding  themselves 
with  knives,  calling  out:  "O  Hasan!  O  Hosein!"  as  they 
hasten  to  the  theatres.  Some  of  these  are  enclosures  in  the 
court-yards  of  palaces  or  mosques,  with  a  brick  platform  in  the 
centre  for  a  stage.  Many  are  attached  to  private  houses  by 
their  rich  owners,  who  expend  enormous  sums  on  the  lamps 
and  decorations.  The  stage  properties  are  of  the  simplest 
— a  tank  sufficing  to  represent  the  Euphrates — but  the 
"  tabut,"  a  model  of  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  is  sometimes 
very  costly.  These  tabuts  are  erected  not  only  on  the  stage 
of  the  theatres  but  all  over  the  city.  Around  the  stage  sit 
or  squat  the  populace,  sometimes  to  the  number  of  twenty 
thousand,  while  the  nobles  occupy  boxes  at  the  sides.  As 
the  play  advances  the  demonstrations  of  grief  become  acute, 
the  audience  no  longer  sees  the  mere  representation  of  a 
tragedy — this  is  the  tragedy  itself!  The  soldiers  of  the 
usurper  Yezid  are  driven  from  the  stage  by  stones  thrown 
by  the  infuriated  people!  Even  the  actors  share  in  the  illu- 
sion: it  is  said  that  the  head  of  the  man  impersonating 
Hosein  was  once  actually  cut  off  in  the  frenzy  of  the  actor- 


THE  SHFAH  SECT  299 

murderer !  In  Bombay,  after  the  last  performance  of  the  tenth 
day,  the  tabuts,  or  tomb-models,  are  carried  in  hundreds  of 
processions,  from  the  theatres  and  other  places  to  the  sea, 
where  sometimes  they  are  left  to  be  the  sport  of  the  waves.1 

The  'Ashura  commemoration  of  the  Syrian  Metawileh 
is  but  a  shadow  of  the  Persian  play.  I  am  told  that  the 
local  religious  sheikhs  forbid  as  sacrilege,  or  dishonor  to  the 
family  of  the  prophet,  even  the  publication  of  the  history  of 
the  house  of  'Ali  in  the  form  of  a  drama  merely  for  private 
reading,  any  dramatic  representation  being  considered  out 
of  the  question.  The  reading  of  this  history  in  undramatic 
form  is,  however,  a  sacred  duty  and  privilege,  pursued  in  all 
Metawali  communities  three  times  a  day  for  the  ten  days.2 
As  the  village  mosques  are  small,  the  readings,  usually  con- 
ducted by  a  sayyid,  or  alleged  descendant  of  'Ali,  may  be 
given  at  the  house  of  some  comparatively  well-to-do  man, 
who  acts  as  host,  furnishing  tea  or  coffee  or  cakes  "  for  the 
sake  of  Hosein."  Loaves  are  also  given  away  to  commem- 
orate by  name  'Ali's  fellow-martyr  and  brother  'Abbas. 
The  tenth  day  is  kept  with  culminating  solemnities.  All 
shops  are  closed;  all  labor  suspended.  Shaving  the  head 
or  face,  wearing  fine  clothes,  taking  walks — these,  with  any- 
thing else  that  may  give  comfort  or  pleasure,  are  forbidden. 
The  morning  reading  is  lengthened  out  from  sunrise  to  noon. 
Sighs  and  groans,  beatings  of  the  breast,  cries  of  "  Ya  Hasan ! 
Ya  Hosein!"  increase  in  intensity.  For  while  the  Syrian 
form  of  recalling  the  woes  of  the  house  of  ' Ali  may  be  but  a 
shadow  of  the  Persian  passion  play,  yet  it  stimulates  the 
same  emotions.  A  place  is  appointed  to  which  is  brought 
food  cooked  in  every  house  "  for  the  sake  of  Hosein,"  that  the 
poor  may  not  be  forgotten  in  the  commemoration. 

Though  the  points  of  likeness  between  the  Sunnis  and 
Shi'ahs  greatly  outnumber  their  points  of  difference,  the 
latter  are  extremely  acute,  centring  chiefly  in  the  question  of 
the  caliphate  or  imamate,  as  the  Shi'ahs  prefer  to  designate 

1  In  India  the  Sunnis  have  similar  processions  on  the  same  day,  some- 
times joining  with  the  Shi'ahs.     Occasionally  the  Hindus  accompany 
the  Moslems  in  a  procession  of  their  own. 

2  Such  readings,  common  in  Persia  at  any  time  of  the  year,  may  there 
be  substituted  during  the  'Ashura  for  a  dramatic  representation. 


300  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

the  succession  after  Mohammed.  The  two  lines  or  lists 
agree  in  two  names  only,  those  of  'Ali  and  his  son  Hasan. 
Especially  do  the  Shi'ahs  repudiate  the  first  three  caliphs: 
Abu  Bekr,  'Omar,  and  'Othman.  They  believe  in  a  line  of 
twelve  imams,  infallible  in  character  and  teaching,  begin- 
ning with  'Ali  and  carried  down  from  father  to  son  as  far 
as  the  young  child  of  Hasan-el-' Askari,  Mohammed,  who 
mysteriously  disappeared  about  the  year  878  A.  D.  Accord- 
ing to  one  tradition  the  boy  entered  a  cave  in  search  of  his 
father  and  was  never  seen  to  come  out.  The  Shi'ahs  have 
especial  honor  for  the  sixth  imam,  Ja'afar-es-Sa'diq,  as  the 
source  of  the  peculiar  school  of  jurisprudence  according  to 
which  their  conduct  is  regulated.  They  trace  the  imamate 
through  his  second  son,  Mu'sa-el-Qa/sim,  whereas  the  Isma- 
'iliyeh,  followed  by  the  Druses,  hold  to  a  succession  through 
the  son  of  Ja'afar's  eldest  son  Isma'il.  The  Nuseiriyeh 
follow  the  main  body  of  Shi'ahs  in  this  matter.  All  Moslems 
look  forward  to  the  coming  of  the  Mah'di,  the  directed  one, 
who  will  set  all  things  right.  The  Shi'ahs,  however,  hold 
that  he  has  already  appeared  once  in  the  person  of  Moham- 
med Ibn  Hasan,  their  twelfth  imam,  who  was  lost  in  the 
cave.  In  regard  to  their  belief  in  the  remanifestation  of 
the  Mahdi,  Dr.  Wortabet  obtained  this  account  from  books 
coming  to  him  from  a  great  Metawali  leader,  the  Sayyid 
Mohammed  Amin-el-Hoseiny,  of  the  line  of  the  prophet: 
"At  the  appointed  time  he  (the  twelfth  imam)  will  manifest 
himself  to  men,  and  will  then  be  known  by  the  name  of 
Guide  (El-Muhdy),  and  with  Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary,  will 
fill  the  whole  world  with  the  knowledge  of  God.  .  .  .  This 
set  time  is  fast  approaching.  All  this  is  a  part  of  the  settled 
faith  of  the  Metawileh.  Some  of  their  learned  men  believe 
also  that  after  the  appearance  of  the  Muhdy  he  will  in  due 
time  die,  and  be  succeeded  by  his  own  father,  or  predecessor 
in  the  office,  who  will  be  raised  from  death  for  this  purpose; 
and  a  retrograde  resurrection  and  succession  will  go  on, 
until  the  twelve  imams  shall  have  risen  and  completed  the 
regeneration  of  the  world.  After  this  will  come  the  end,  the 
judgment,  and  eternity." l  In  the  meantime,  so  hold  the 

'"Religion  in  the  East,"  p.  274.     Dr.  Wortabet's  chapter  on  the 
"Metawileh"  is  full  of  first-hand  information. 


THE  SHFAH  SECT  301 

Metawileh,  this  twelfth  imam  is  existing  in  the  world  dis- 
guised and  unknown.  .He  is  supposed  to  be  present  often 
at  Mecca  during  the  Hajj  ceremonies.  Many  stories  are 
told  to-day  of  his  succoring  of  people  in  danger  or  distress. 
Once  a  man  on  a  journey  was  attacked  by  robbers,  and 
called  on  the  imam  for  aid.  To  him  then  appeared  a  sim- 
ple muleteer,  or  so,  indeed,  he  seemed,  till  after  delivering 
the  traveller  from  the  robbers,  and  conducting  him  to  a  safe 
place,  he  vanished  from  his  sight.  A  pilgrim  on  the  road 
to  Mecca  fell  behind  the  caravan,  his  camel  being  sick.  In 
vain  he  urged  the  beast  along,  but  the  train  disappeared  in 
the  distance,  leaving  the  man  in  danger,  not  knowing  the 
route  and  fearful  for  the  dangers  of  solitary  travel.  Sud- 
denly there  appeared  a  man  on  a  white  horse,  lifted  the  pil- 
grim to  a  place  behind  him,  bore  him  swiftly  toward  Mecca, 
dropped  him  gently  to  the  earth,  and  when  the  man  looked  up 
there  was  no  horse  nor  rider.  His  guide  had  been  the  imam. 
The  Sunnis  and  Shi'ahs  differ  from  each  other  not  only 
in  their  belief  as  to  the  personnel  of  the  true  successors  of 
Mohammed  but  in  their  theory  as  to  the  nature  of  the  office. 
With  the  Sunnis  the  caliphate  is  chiefly  a  temporal  office, 
with  the  Shi'ahs  the  imamate  is  valued  mainly  on  its  religious 
side.  The  imams  are  practically  regarded  as  supernatural 
beings  whose  commands  come  with  divine  authority.  To 
them  are  known  the  secrets  of  God;  by  them  is  the  way  of 
access  to  him.  Thus  in  each  imam  the  Metawileh  see  the 
high-priest,  the  preacher,  the  expounder  of  faith,  and  the 
guide  in  all  spiritual  matters.1  For  all  the  alleged  descend- 
ants of  'Ali,  the  first  imam,  the  Metawileh  have  a  great 
respect,  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  they  are  also  descend- 
ants of  the  prophet.  In  Balad'  Besha'ra — the  mountainous 
region  east  of  southern  Phoenicia — are  found  to-day,  in  a 
state  of  poverty,  two  branches  of  this  "  royal  family,"  called 
respectively  Hasani'yeh  and  Hoseinf'yeh,  who  wear  the 
green  turban,  the  badge  of  the  prophet's  family.  To  sup- 
port these  sayyids,  or  lords,  as  they  are  called,  by  charity — 
known  as  sadaqah — is  a  duty  incumbent  on  all  Metawileh, 
though  they  are  in  general  poor  themselves.  Most  of  the 
1  Compare  Wortabet's  "Religion  ID  the  East,"  p.  273. 


302  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

sadaqah  goes  to  those  sayyids  who,  after  completing  their 
theological  studies  in  Irak  (Mesopotamia),  return  as  'ulama, 
to  be  consulted  on  matters  of  law  and  religion,  to  draw  up 
marriage  contracts,  and  to  perform  other  "clerical"  duties, 
if  we  may  so  call  them.  Collections  in  money  and  kind  are 
made  every  year  for  the  acknowledged  sayyid  of  the  dis- 
trict. Other  descendants  of  the  "  royal  house,"  numbering 
several  hundreds,  are  obliged  to  supplement  their  small  share 
of  the  dole  by  work  which  is  done  for  other  people  usually, 
as  they  seldom  are  landowners.  They  collect  their  own 
dole  by  a  house-to-house  visitation,  proving  their  claims  to 
descent  from  the  house  of  'Ali  by  a  certificate  countersigned 
by  the  seals  of  well-known  sayyids.  Both  classes,  learned 
and  unlearned,  are  said  to  be  distinguished  by  a  meticulous 
observance  of  all  the  ordinances  of  their  religion.  Sayyids 
are  extremely  common  in  Persia. 

From  the  fact  that  the  Shi'ahs  reject  the  corpus  of  Sunni 
traditions,  including  those  preserved  by  the  first  three 
caliphs,  whom  they  repudiate,  it  is  often  hastily  assumed 
that  they  deny  all  tradition.  On  the  contrary,  they  have  a 
corpus  of  their  own,  including  many  sayings  of  'Ali  and 
the  other  imams.  In  Syria  this  is  interpreted  for  them  by 
an  especial  mufti  appointed  by  the  Turkish  Government. 
The  differences  between  Sunni  and  Shi'ah  practices  are 
mainly  confined  to  details  of  ritual.  There  is  some  variation 
in  the  ceremony  of  ablution  before  prayer.  For  example, 
the  Sunni  lets  the  water  run  from  the  hand  down  the  arm  to 
the  elbow;  the  Metawali  reverses  the  process  so  that  the 
water  runs  from  the  elbow  to  the  hand.  Before  praying 
he  should  remove  from  his  person  anything  of  gold,  such  as 
rings  or  a  watch.  He  should  always  carry  with  him  a 
"  sejdi,"  or  praying  pebble,  a  cake  of  baked  clay,  made  of 
earth  from  Mecca  or  Medinah  or  Kerbela,  or  some  other 
notable  place  of  visitation.  This  is  to  be  placed  on  the 
ground  before  him  so  that  his  forehead  may  touch  it  in  the 
due  course  of  prostration.  In  case  it  is  lost  or  unavailable, 
he  may  substitute  as  a  reminder  a  round  stone  or  a  bit  of 
green  paper  or  leaves  from  any  plant  that  does  not  bear  fruit. 
A  sejdi  that  I  have  handled  is  octagonal  in  shape,  measur- 


THE  SHI'AH  SECT  303 

ing  one  inch  and  three-quarters  across.  Within  an  orna- 
mental border  are  stamped  in  Arabic  the  names  God,  Mo- 
hammed, 'Ali,  Hasan,  Hosein.  It  is  said  that  a  Metawali 
fears  to  break  an  oath  made  on  this  sedji.  In  the  ritual  of 
the  prayer  itself  there  are  minor  differences  between  the  two 
sects  as  well  as  in  the  number  of  prostrations  required  at 
various  times.  Again,  the  Metawileh  do  not  follow  the  dis- 
tinctions made  by  the  Sunnis  between  an  obligatory  (fardh) 
prostration,  or  one  expressly  commanded,  and  a  voluntary 
(sunnah)  prostration,  or  one  made  in  accordance  with  the 
practice  of  the  prophet,  but  they  appear  to  recognize  the 
former  only,  as  their  form  of  declaration  testifies.  For  the 
sake  of  convenience  they  may  combine  the  noon  prayer  with 
the  afternoon  worship  and  the  sunset  prayer  with  the  even- 
ing, practices  not  usually  allowed  by  the  Sunnis.  No  especial 
prominence  seems  to  be  given  to  the  Friday  noon  service, 
which  need  not  even  have  a  sermon.  At  times  the  women 
pray  in  the  open  air.  Dr.  Thomson,  who  never  noticed  this 
custom  among  the  Sunnis,  saw  a  group  of  Metawali  women 
go  through  the  regular  ablutions  and  prayers  near  the  foun- 
tain of  Jeba'a-el-Halawy  in  the  southern  Lebanon.  An- 
other visitor  at  this  place  states  that  this  custom  holds  on 
certain  days  only,  when  the  women  have  the  exclusive  right 
to  pray  near  a  holy  place.  Unlike  the  Sunnis,  who,  when 
praying  in  a  group,  follow  an  imam  or  leader,  the  Metawileh 
always  pray  singly,  unless  they  can  be  led  by  a  mujta'hid, 
or  sort  of  a  doctor  of  divinity,  who  has  studied  in  the  theo- 
logical institution  at  Irak.  Though  the  Shi'ahs  have  mosques 
of  their  own,  they  have  the  right  at  any  time  to  worship  with 
the  Sunnis.  In  fact,  they  claimed  the  right  to  contribute  to 
the  rebuilding  of  the  great  mosque  of  Damascus,  after  the 
fire  of  1892,  taking  up  a  considerable  collection.  This  offer- 
ing the  Sunni  guardians  absolutely  refused.  But  the  Shi'ahs 
bided  their  time.  When  the  restoration  was  complete  and 
the  scaffolding  with  other  debris  of  reconstruction  removed, 
they  suddenly  swarmed  into  the  immense  court-yard,  an  irre- 
sistible army  of  hundreds,  with  pails  and  brooms  and  hose, 
and  made  the  holy  house  sweet  and  clean,  a  meet  place  for 
prayer;  contributing  in  militant  labor  what  they  were  kept 


304  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

from  giving  in  money.  With  the  Metawileh,  pilgrimage  by 
proxy,  for  the  living  as  well  as  for  the  dead,  appears  to  be 
more  common  than  it  is  with  the  Sunnis.  A  man  may  as- 
sign a  certain  sum  by  will,  to  be  paid  to  the  proxy  making 
the  pilgrimage  after  his  death.  If  made  for  a  living  per- 
son, the  latter  should  pay  the  expense  of  the  journey.  Visita- 
tions to  the  tombs  of  ' Ali  and  Hosein,  at  Kufa  and  Kerbela 
respectively,  are  meritorious,  but  are  called,  technically,  zia- 
ras,  though  they  are  sometimes  popularly  referred  to  under 
the  name  of  hajj. 

In  addition  to  the  normal  union  the  Shi'ahs  recognize  two 
forms  of  marriage  held  to  be  illegal  by  the  Orthodox: 
mut"ah,  or  temporary  marriage,  and  tahrim',  or  nominal 
marriage.1  The  former  is  called  the  curse  of  modern  Persia. 
Among  the  Metawileh  arrangements  for  such  a  union  are 
made  verbally  between  the  man  and  woman,  usually  a 
widow,  with  stipulations  covering  the  length  or  period — a 
day,  a  week,  a  year,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  also  the 
amount  of  "dowry"  to  be  paid  by  the  man,  strictly  in  ad- 
vance. Within  the  stipulated  period  divorce  is  forbidden, 
but  at  its  termination  each  party  is  perfectly  free.  Such 
unions  are  common,  even  among  religious  sheikhs  bringing 
no  technical  disgrace  to  either  party,  but  men  of  social 
standing  following  the  practice  would  prefer  to  keep  the 
matter  quiet,  while  a  lady  of  good  family  would  never  con- 
tract such  an  alliance.  The  tahrim,  or  nominal  marriage, 
is  a  legal  fiction,  merely  an  ingenious  pretext  for  avoiding 
the  practical  inconvenience  arising  from  the  seclusion  of 
women.  It  is  a  marriage  without  consummation,  for  the 
contract  gives  the  man  the  right  simply  to  see  the  woman. 
Such  an  arrangement  permits  a  woman  to  facilitate  the 
transaction  of  business  by  "marrying"  her  agent.  But  the 

1  Wortabet  paraphrases  "mut'ah"  as  "marriage  of  privilege." 
Hughes's  "Dictionary  of  Islam"  points  out  that  temporary  marriages 
had  been  permitted  by  the  prophet,  but  that  the  Sunnis  declare  he 
afterward  prohibited  a  mut'ah  marriage  at  Khaibar.  The  Shi'ahs  justify 
their  practice  also  by  an  interpretation  of  surah  IV,  28.  If  the  woman 
becomes  pregnant  (which  may  be  lawfully  guarded  against),  the  child 
is  the  temporary  husband's;  but  if  he  should  deny  the  child,  the  denial 
is  sustained  by  the  law. 


THE  SHFAH  SECT  305 

man  also  gains  access  to  his  "wife's"  immediate  female 
relations,  which  may  be  the  chief  object  desired.  To  cite 
a  concrete  example:  A  widow  wishing  to  have  a  proper 
escort  to  Mecca  may  arrange  a  temporary  marriage  between 
her  daughter  and  some  trusted  friend  of  her  late  husband's, 
who  is  thus  enabled  to  care  for  both  ladies  with  the  freedom 
of  a  brother  till  the  end  of  the  pilgrimage,  when  the  bond 
is  dissolved.  It  may  be  added  that  in  regular  marriage 
divorce  does  not  depend,  as  with  the  Sunnis,  on  the  caprice 
of  the  husband,  but  upon  a  regular  legal  process. 

The  exclusiveness  of  the  Metawileh  is  enhanced  by  their 
own  idea  that  ceremonial  uncleanness  is  produced  by  con- 
tact, even  at  second  hand,  not  only  with  members  of  other 
religions,  but  even  with  the  Sunni  Moslems,  though  fear  of 
the  power  of  the  latter  leads  to  a  relaxation  of  the  principle 
in  Syria.  They  will  not  eat  the  meat  of  animals  killed  by 
aliens,  drink  of  water  from  their  vessels,  nor  permit  them  to 
bake  bread  in  ovens  used  by  themselves.  If  compelled  to 
eat  with  others,  they  will  not  use  the  same  side  of  the  plate, 
and,  after  the  meal,  must  wash  away  the  defilement  by 
pouring  water  over  the  mouth.  If  a  Metawali  sell  leben 
(sour  milk)  to  a  Christian,  he  must  pour  it  himself  into  a 
vessel  brought  by  the  latter,  for,  should  the  buyer  touch  the 
shop  vessel  or  dip  his  finger  into  the  leben,  the  defiled  liquid 
must  all  be  poured  away.  The  Metawileh  will  not  touch  a 
stranger  whose  clothes  are  wet,  nor  permit  him  to  enter  their 
houses,  if  they  can  help  it.  One  travelling  among  them  will 
find  it  hard  to  get  a  drink  of  water  unless  he  provide  his  own 
cup.  An  especially  polite  or  kind-hearted  host  maj  con- 
cede the  use  of  his  own  cup  to  a  thirsty  Christian,  but  on 
the  departure  of  the  guest  the  cup  must  be  broken.  It  may 
be  emphasized  that  this  insistence  on  cleanness  is  strictly 
ceremonial.  In  the  Metawileh  villages  of  the  interior  actual 
cleanliness  is  sadly  wanting.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  night 
spent  by  my  father  and  myself  on  the  filthy  floor  of  a  khan,  or 
stable  of  a  squalid  village  in  Naphtali,  where  shadowy  cats, 
lean  and  grim,  prowled  around  the  saddle-bags  that  served 
us  for  pillows,  nor  the  surprise  I  felt  at  two  in  the  morning, 
when  my  father  returned  from  a  raid  on  the  reluctant 


306  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

hospitality  of  the  town,  bearing  some  milk  which  an  ancient 
dame  had  been  persuaded  to  draw  from  a  ghastly  cow  into 
our  own  vessel. 

Notwithstanding  their  exclusiveness,  the  Metawileh  follow 
the  doctrine  of  taqi'yah,  or  "  guarding  oneself,"  held  by  all 
Shi'ahs.  This  is  defined  in  the  "Dictionary  of  Islam"  as  "  a 
pious  fraud  by  which  the  Shi'ah  Moslem  believes  he  is 
justified  in  either  smoothing  down  or  in  denying  the  pe- 
culiarities of  his  religious  belief,  in  order  to  save  himself 
from  religious  persecution."  A  Shi'ah  can,  therefore,  pass 
himself  off  as  a  Sunni  to  escape  persecution.  Such  conform- 
ity, or  "  bowing  in  the  house  of  Rimmon,"  is  illustrated  at 
public  funerals,  where  the  talqin,  or  address  to  the  de- 
ceased, is  given  in  conformity  to  Sunni  usage,  though  in 
private  funerals  the  Metawileh  omit  it  at  the  grave,  having 
breathed  it  into  the  ears  of  the  dying  man.  The  secret  re- 
ligions of  Syria,  all  of  which  are  offshoots  from  the  Shi'ahs, 
exhibit  some  startling  corollaries  to  this  doctrine. 

Though  the  cults  of  the  Druses,  the  Nuseiriyeh,  and  the 
Isma'iliyeh  represent  the  lasting  effects  of  schismatic  move- 
ments in  Islam,  already  sketched,1  their  present  votaries  do 
not  hesitate  to  call  themselves  Moslems  when  it  is  for  their 
safety  or  convenience  so  to  do.  Sheltered  in  their  Lebanon 
villages,  or  segregated  in  the  highlands  of  the  Hauran,  the 
Druses  openly  avow  their  independence  as  a  sect.  But  in- 
dividual Druses,  settled  in  Moslem  cities,  conform  to  many 
of  the  practices  of  Islam.  This  they  may  do  with  a  quiet 
conscience,  following  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of 
taqfyah  taught  by  their  religion.  They  are  explicitly  told 
that  in  private  they  may  curse  Mohammed  as  "  bastard,  ape, 
and  devil,"  while  in  public  they  may  call  him  the  prophet 
of  God!  A  similar  tendency  is  found  among  the  Nuseiri- 
yeh and  the  Isma'iliyeh.  A  young  emigrant  with  whom  I 
chatted  on  a  West-bound  steamer  solemnly  maintained  that 
he  was  a  Moslem  until  my  friendly  cross-questioning  con- 
vinced him  that  I  had  guessed  him  to  belong  to  the  Nusei- 
riyeh. He  then  quite  frankly  acknowledged  his  faith. 

1  See  p.  17, 


THE  SHI'AH  SECT  307 

Those  Isma'iliyeh  in  Syria  who  openly  admit  their  belief  are 
estimated  at  some  twenty  thousand  by  a  native  official  in- 
timate with  them,  but  he  holds  that  these  form  only  a  tenth 
of  the  whole  number,  as  the  majority  are  hidden  in  the  cities 
of  Syria  under  the  general  name  of  Moslems,  openly  denying 
the  faith  which  they  secretly  practice.  The  Isma'iliyeh  send 
a  yearly  tribute  to  one  Sultan  Mohammed  Shah,  known  as 
the  Agha  Khan  in  Bombay,  where  his  father  was  exiled, 
for  political  reasons,  from  Persia.  This  remarkable  per- 
sonage, who  is  well  read  in  many  modern  languages  and 
has  the  appearance  of  a  polished  man  of  the  world,  claims 
lineal  descent  from  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,  Lord 
of  the  Assassins.  The  Isma'iliyeh  cherish  his  picture  in 
their  houses,  believing  him  to  be  an  incarnation  of  the  Deity. 
His  enormous  wealth  is  mainly  derived  from  this  tribute, 
much  of  which  is  sent  by  the  Isma'iliyeh  of  East  Africa. 
And  yet  he  is  counted  as  a  prominent  figure  in  Islam,  with 
great  influence  over  the  Shi'ah  Mohammedans  of  India! 

Theologically,  these  three  secret  cults  of  Syria  are  derived 
from  the  same  root,  namely,  the  teachings  of  an  extreme  sect 
of  the  early  Isma'iliyeh  called  the  Batinis  or  Esoterics.  In- 
itiation, thus,  plays  an  important  factor  in  all  three  cults. 
With  the  Druses,  the  initiates,  or  'oqqal'  (that  is,  the  wise), 
include  both  men  and  women,  but  the  non-initiates,  or 
jahhal'  (that  is,  the  foolish  or  simple),  form  the  majority  of 
the  Druse  population.  The  initiated  are  divided  into  two 
classes.  Members  of  the  higher  class  are  characterized  by 
extreme  dignity  and  exaggerated  decorum  of  speech.  As  has 
been  stated,  the  Druses  speak  of  themselves  as  Unitarians 
unless  they  are  forced  to  use  the  common  designation  for  the 
sake  of  convenience.  The  services  of  the  initiated  are  held 
on  Thursday  evenings  in  the  khul'wehs,  which  are  usually 
situated  on  some  lonely  hill- top,  or  in  the  meeting-house  in 
the  village.  The  meetings  are  supposed  to  have  a  strongly 
political  flavor.  Formal  prayer  is  said  to  form  no  part  of 
the  service,  which  includes  exposition  of  the  secret  books, 
composed  mainly  by  Hamzeh,  the  Batini  missionary,  who 
was  the  real  founder  of  the  sect  in  the  tenth  century.  The 
uninitiated  participate  in  no  religious  service  nor  practices, 


308  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

save  at  the  annual  feast  which  coincides  with  the  great  feast 
of  the  Moslems.  With  the  Nuseiriyeh,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  vast  majority  of  males  are  initiated  at  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen,1 while  women,  who  are  supposed  to  be  without  souls, 
are  not  admitted  to  any  share  in  the  religious  mysteries. 
In  their  prayers  the  men  go  through  prostrations  similar  to 
those  of  the  Moslems,  but  unlike  these  they  pray  only  in 
secret,  at  any  rate  not  before  members  of  other  sects.  At 
the  ceremony  of  initiation  wine  is  used,  as  it  is  also  at  the 
annual  feast  of  the  quddas',  which  is  the  ordinary  word  for 
the  Christian  mass.  Whether  the  Nuseiriyeh  borrowed  this 
use  of  wine  from  Christian  sources  or  whether  it  is  the 
survival  of  older  heathen  practices  is  not  clear.  Some  in- 
fluence of  Christianity  is  indicated  by  the  observance  of 
Christmas.  At  the  feast  of  the  quddas  a  bowl  of  wine,  the 
symbol  of  light,  is  placed  before  the  imam,  who,  after  a  ser- 
vice of  reading,  presents  a  cupful  to  each  initiate  present. 

At  the  initiation  of  the  Nuseiriyeh,  the  novice  is  threat- 
ened with  the  meanest  form  of  reincarnation  if  he  betray 
the  secrets.  The  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls 
is  held  both  by  the  Druses  and  by  the  Nuseiriyeh,  but  with 
a  difference.  According  to  strict  Druse  doctrine,  metem- 
psychosis operates  only  from  one  human  body  to  another, 
though  some  of  the  ignorant  believe  in  reincarnation  in  lower 
forms.  The  learned  teach  that  all  human  souls  were  created 
at  once,  and,  as  the  number  never  changes,  the  death  of  one 
person  involves  the  birth  of  another.  Character  determines 
whether  the  soul  shall  pass  to  a  higher  or  to  a  lower  human 
form.  But  with  the  Nuseiriyeh  the  present  life  determines 
whether  the  next  incarnation  shall  be  in  a  higher  human  form 
or  in  some  animal  form.  Both  Druses  and  Nuseiriyeh  seem 
to  be  less  secret  about  this  matter  than  they  are  regarding 
their  other  beliefs.  The  Druses  relate  amusing  stories,  in- 
volving memories  of  former  incarnations,  as  that  of  a  small 
boy  who  went  to  call  on  his  former  wife,  finding  his  children 
grown  up  and  inclined  to  be  patronizing  to  their  little  papa. 
A  religious  sheikh  of  the  Nuseiriyeh  gave  a  full  account  of 

According  to  Rev.  S.  Lyde,  in  "The  Asian  Mystery"  (1860),  all 
males  are  initiated  at  eighteen. 


THE  SHI'AH  SECT  309 

their  belief  in  this  matter  to  a  native  Protestant  of  northern 
Syria  for  whom  he  had  great  respect  and  affection.  All 
souls  were  created  from  God's  spirit,  at  the  same  moment, 
and  placed  in  a  variety  of  bodies,  human  and  animal.  All 
were  happy  till  sin  entered  the  world,  though  the  spirits  in- 
carnated in  human  bodies  were  nobler.  A  man  is  judged 
by  his  works.  A  persistently  good  soul  is  reincarnated  in 
human  forms  seventy-two  times,  passing  at  last  into  the 
body  of  a  religious  sheikh,  after  which  it  becomes  a  star  in 
heaven.  The  soul  of  a  bad  man  passes  into  a  lower  form, 
determined  by  the  degree  of  his  wickedness — cat,  donkey, 
wolf,  ant,  louse,  etc.  No  soul  is  eventually  lost,  for  the 
work  of  purification  involves  the  final  triumph  of  good,  so 
that  at  the  end  all  created  souls  will  become  stars  in  heaven, 
having  previously  passed  through  the  body  of  a  Nuseiry 
sheikh.  This  salvation  is  to  include  members  of  all  relig- 
ions. Christians  at  first  become  swine;  Jews  become  apes; 
Moslems,  donkeys  and  jackals.  But  later  these  souls,  being 
purified,  pass  into  the  bodies  of  good  Nuseiriyeh,  and  so  on 
to  heaven. 

One  of  the  chief  beliefs  of  the  Shi'ahs  is  that  the  imams 
are  supernatural  beings  whose  commands  come  with  divine 
authority.  This  doctrine  prepared  the  .way  for  the  accept- 
ance of  the  divinity  of  the  caliph  El-Hakim  by  the  body 
later  called  Druses.  In  El-Hakim  they  believe  occurred 
the  last  of  ten  incarnations  of  the  Deity,  the  second  of  which 
was  in  the  time  of  Adam.  They  also  hold  that  in  the  be- 
ginning of  things  there  emanated  from  the  essence  of  God 
a  spirit  of  pure  light  called  the  universal  mind,  who  become 
the  medium  of  creation.1  Contemplating  his  own  perfec- 
tion, this  spirit  thereby  committed  sin,  hence,  apart  from 
his  own  volition,  there  emanated  from  himself  a  spirit  of 

1  The  Druse  secret  books,  which  first  came  to  light  over  two  hundred 
years  ago,  have  been  independently  studied  by  two  authorities,  De  Sacy 
and  Dr.  John  Wortabet.  The  learned  work  of  De  Sacy,  "Expose  de 
la  Religion  des  Druses  "  (1838),  is  well  known.  In  this  brief  account 
we  follow  the  exposition  of  Wortabet,  who  was  not  only  a  conscien- 
tious scholar  but  whose  knowledge  of  Arabic  was  practically  that  of  a 
native.  (See  the  chapter  on  the  "  Druses  "  in  his  "  Religion  in  the  East.") 


310  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

pure  darkness  called  the  antagonist.  From  these  two  spir- 
its God  then  derived  a  third,  partaking  of  the  nature  of 
each  and  called  the  universal  soul.  By  similar  processes 
were  evolved  four  other  spirits,  or  ministers,  making  a  total 
of  seven:  five  being  ministers  of  truth  and  two,  ministers  of 
error.  All  these  spirits  have  been  often  incarnated.  When 
the  universal  mind,  or  chief  spirit  of  good,  was  incarnated  in 
Lazarus  (known  as  the  True  Christ),  the  antagonist,  or 
chief  minister  of  error,  was  incarnated  in  Jesus,  who  re- 
ceived instruction  from  the  True  Christ.  When  the  antago- 
nist became  Mohammed,  the  universal  mind  was  Selman'- 
el-Pha'risy.  At  the  time  of  the  incarnation  of  the  Deity  in 
El-Hakim,  the  universal  mind  was  Hamzeh,  the  real  founder 
of  the  Druses. 

With  the  Nuseiriyeh  belief  in  seven  incarnations  of  the 
Deity  is  held  to  be  fundamental.  That  of  'Ali,  however, 
transcends  all  the  rest  in  importance.  For  all  subdivisions 
of  this  body  the  son-in-law  of  Mohammed  is  practically 
God.  Each  incarnation  of  the  Deity,  who  is  primarily  re- 
garded as  the  essence  of  light,  is  accompanied  by  the  in- 
carnation of  two  other  elements,  the  three  forming  a  sort  of 
triad,  the  members  of  which  are  called  the  meaning (ma'ana), 
the  name  (ism),  and  the  door  (bab).  Thus  when  God  was 
incarnated  as  the  meaning  in  Abel,  Adam  was  the  name 
and  Gabriel  was  the  door.  Jesus  was  only  the  name 
at  the  time  that  Sima'an-es-Sufa  (Simon-Peter)  was  the 
meaning.  When  'Ali  was  the  meaning,  Mohammed  was 
the  name  and  Selman-el-Pharisy  was  the  door.  'Ali  is  held 
to  have  created  Mohammed,  his  father-in-law!  It  seems 
inconceivable  that  from  the  pure  monotheism  of  Islam  such 
wild  doctrine  could  have  developed.  The  followers  of  'Ali, 
however,  have  always  been  characterized  by  minds  hospita- 
ble to  new  ideas,  or  rather  to  the  old  ideas  of  other  cults,  in- 
cluding Persian  Dualism  and  Christian  Gnosticism.1 

1  The  most  recent  work  on  the  Nuseiriyeh  is  by  M.  Rend  Dussaud, 
entitled  "Eistoire  et  Religion  des  Nosairis,"  being  vol.  CXXIX  in  the 
"Bibliotheque  de  I'dcole  des  Hautes  Etudes"  (Paris,  1900).  "The 
Asian  Mystery,"  by  Rev.  Samuel  Lyde  (London,  I860),  contains  ma- 
terial of  great  value. 


THE  SHI'AH  SECT  311 

The  doctrine  of  incarnation  as  held  by  the  Druses  and  by 
the  Nuseiriyeh  is  now  largely  a  matter  of  theory.  With  the 
Isma'iliyeh  of  Syria,  however,  the  doctrine  takes  a  present 
practical  form.  Not  only  is  God  supposed  to  dwell  in  the 
sultan  Mohammed  Shah  in  Bombay,  but  he  is  also  held  to 
be  tabernacled  in  a  virgin,  living  on  the  edge  of  the  Syrian 
desert,  at  Selem'yeh,  which  with  Masyad'  and  Qadmus',  in 
the  mountains  to  the  west,  constitutes  the  head-quarters  of 
the  sect.  This  girl  is  called  the  ro'dhah,  which  may  be 
translated  a  greensward  or  pleasaunce.  As  long  as  she  re- 
mains a  virgin  she  is  regarded  as  sacred,  and  the  Isma'il- 
ians  wear  bits  of  her  clothing  or  hair  from  her  person  in 
their  turbans.  But  should  she  marry — and  she  may  do  so 
honorably — search  is  made  for  a  successor,  who  must  be  a 
girl  born  on  a  certain  day  in  the  year,1  and  who  should  con- 
form to  certain  characteristics  regarding  her  height  and  the 
color  of  her  hair  and  eyes.  At  least  two  persons  have  sur- 
prised the  Isma'iliyeh  at  a  service  of  adoration  of  the  ro'- 
dhah. One,  a  government  official,  who  broke  in  forcibly, 
found  the  girl  seated  on  a  high  chair  dressed  in  a  white  robe, 
with  a  wreath  of  fresh  flowers  on  her  head.  The  worship- 
pers were  kneeling  before  her  chanting  sacred  songs.  Ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  the  other  witness,  a  simple 
Syrian  Christian,  whom  I  questioned  some  ten  years  after 
his  adventure,  his  observations  were  confined  to  the  brief 
period  between  his  accidental  stumbling  into  a  secret  as- 
sembly and  his  rough  ejection  by  one  of  the  worshippers, 
who  told  him  that  any  one  else  would  have  been  promptly 
butchered!  He  happened  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  the 
prominent  sheikhs.  He  remembers  seeing  a  circle  of  some 
twenty  or  thirty  initiates,  seated  on  the  floor,  in  an  attitude 
of  adoration  of  a  girl  of  about  sixteen  years  of  age  dressed 
in  a  black  robe  that  entirely  covered  her  person,  with  her 
hair  hanging  down  on  either  side  of  her  face  which  "was 
left  exposed.  Some  one  held  a  book,  but  he  was  not  sure 
whether  it  was  the  girl  or  her  father,  a  prominent  religious 

1  Miss  Gertrude  Lowthian  Bell  was  informed  that  every  female  child 
(of  the  Isma'illyeh)  born  on  Rajab  27th  is  an  incarnation  of  the  Deity. 
(See  "The  Desert  and  the  Sown,"  p.  233,  London,  1907.) 


312  OTHER  FEATURES  OF  ISLAM 

sheikh.  In  fact,  the  witness  was  evidently  conscientious  in 
discriminating  between  what  he  remembered  clearly  and 
what  he  was  hazy  about.  This  girl  has  since  been  married 
and  her  place  taken  by  another. 

The  cult  of  the  rodhah  appears  to  be  an  ancient  form  of 
nature-worship  retained  when  the  local  inhabitants  ac- 
cepted the  strange  ideas  of  the  Isma'iliyeh.  In  the  result- 
ant synthesis  both  sets  of  ideas  may  have  undergone  altera- 
tion. In  its  present  form  this  nature-worship  appears  to 
be  symbolic  rather  than  sensual.  There  is  evidence  that 
woman  is  venerated  as  the  symbol  of  the  earth-mother. 
From  their  earliest  days  followers  of  all  the  secret  cults  have 
been  accused  of  indiscriminate  immorality  and  wild  orgies. 
No  such  accusation  has  been  proved  against  any  one  of  these 
religions  as  a  whole.  Dr.  Post,  indeed,  has  testified  that 
chastity  is  the  crowning  virtue  of  the  Druses.  It  is  well  to 
insist  strongly  on  this  point  in  closing  these  brief  paragraphs, 
which  are  all  that  we  have  been  able  at  the  present  time  to 
devote  to  the  secret  cults. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

THIS  chapter  deals  mainly  with  mission  work.  In  other 
words,  it  takes  account  of  certain  concrete  forms  of  Western 
influence  deliberately  exerted  with  the  aim  of  affecting  one 
or  more  of  the  religious  cults  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  But 
these  particular  forms  of  influence  are  but  parts  of  a  great, 
indefinable,  indescribable  stream  of  tendency  whose  potency 
inheres  in  its  very  unconsciousness.  It  comes,  indeed,  from 
the  West,  but  its  name  is  the  spirit  of  the  times.  In  the 
Holy  Land  it  had  begun  to  make  itself  felt  eighty  years  ago 
when  American  missionaries  first  landed  at  Jaffa.  Fostered 
by  Christian  missions,  in  turn  it  helped  their  progress. 
It  breathed  in  every  school.  It  grew  with  the  establishment 
of  foreign  mercantile  houses,  British,  French,  or  Italian. 
Later  it  flashed  along  the  new  telegraph  wires  and  whirred 
in  the  new  printing-presses.  It  was  fanned  into  a  brighter 
flame  by  the  massacres  of  1860,  which  resulted  in  the  short 
French  occupation  by  the  soldiers  of  Napoleon  III.  It  was 
freshly  manifested  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  when  Leba- 
non peasants  and  other  Syrians  who,  like  their  Phoenician 
ancestors  of  old,  had  ventured  across  the  seas,  first  began 
to  bring  home  the  ideas  of  other  lands.  How  powerfully  it 
has  worked  during  the  last  third  of  a  century  can  be  accu- 
rately gauged  by  comparing  the  attitude  of  the  common 
people  when  a  constitution  was  promulgated  in  1877  with 
their  attitude  when  precisely  the  same  constitution  was  pro- 
claimed in  1908.  At  the  earlier  period  the  people,  ignorant 
and  apathetic,  were  as  little  affected  by  the  granting  of 
rights  as  they  were  the  next  year  by  their  withdrawal. 
When,  thirty  years  later,  'Abd-el-Hamid  was  forced  by  the 
Young  Turks  to  declare  once  more  for  constitutional  rule, 

313 


314  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

the  whole  empire  went  mad  with  joy.  When  a  few  months 
later  there  appeared  a  chance  that  this  would  again  become 
null,  a  deep  gloom  fell  on  the  land.  To  a  certain  extent 
this  change  can  be  accounted  for  by  definite  influences.  It 
is  easy  to  point  out  that  the  leaders  of  the  Young  Turks 
learned  their  political  lessons  in  Paris,  Vienna,  and  Geneva. 
It  is  now  well  known  that  the  liberal  ideas  spread  through  a 
mysterious  secret  propaganda,  the  extent  of  whose  ramifica- 
tion was  unsuspected  before  the  revolution  itself.  It  is 
quite  legitimate  to  find  an  important  factor  of  this  prepar- 
edness of  the  common  people  in  the  spread  of  schools  of 
all  kinds  through  the  empire.  The  paramount  influence 
of  the  American  mission  schools,  where  principles  of  true 
liberty  were  not  only  taught  but  incarnated,  cannot  be 
overestimated.  But  greater  than  any  one  of  these  influences 
and  greater  than  the  combination  of  them  all  that  could  be 
named  is  the  spirit  of  the  times.  All  the  Orient  is  feeling 
its  touch.  China  has  just  awakened  to  it.  It  has  recreated 
Japan;  in  time  it  is  bound  to  recreate  Turkey. 

Our  present  thesis,  however,  is  concerned  with  the  con- 
crete. First,  then,  what  impression  have  Christian  missions 
made  on  Islam  in  Syria  and  Palestine?  The  answer  must 
be:  No  direct  influence,  except  on  a  very  few  individuals 
converted  at  different  times  and  places  and  having  no  co- 
herence among  themselves.  Direct  work  on  a  large  scale, 
conducted  openly  among  Moslems  in  Turkey,  has  ever  been 
impossible.  Turkey  is  a  Mohammedan  state.  Its  sultan 
claims  to  be  the  successor  of  the  prophet  of  Islam.  Accord- 
ing to  strict  Moslem  law  apostasy  from  Islam  involves  death. 
The  extreme  penalty  is  said  to  be  still  imposed  by  the  emirs 
of  certain  semi-independent  districts  of  Arabia.  Lord 
Cromer  once  asked  a  qadhi,  or  judge,  in  Egypt  why  the  death 
penalty  was  no  longer  carried  out.  The  qadhi  declared  that 
the  law  was  immutable.  As  a  religious  authority  he  would 
sentence  an  apostate  to  execution.  If  the  secular  authori- 
ties would  not  carry  his  sentence  into  effect,  he  was  not 
responsible.  The  imperial  proclamation,  called  the  hatti 
sherif  of  Gulhane*,  issued  at  Constantinople  in  1839,  prom- 
ised to  make  no  distinctions  of  race  and  religion  in  the  treat- 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  315 

ment  of  subjects  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  In  1844,  under 
pressure  from  the  powers,  the  sultan  'Abd-el-Medjid  gave 
this  written  pledge:  "The  Sublime  Porte  engages  to  take 
effectual  measures  to  prevent  henceforward  the  persecution 
and  putting  to  death  of  a  Christian  who  is  an  apostate."  * 
Though  the  implication  was  that  apostasy  from  Islam  was 
indicated,  the  characteristic  ambiguity  of  this  pronounce- 
ment, doubtless  intentional,  gave  no  clear  guarantees  of 
immunity  to  Moslems  who  proposed  to  change  their  faith. 
The  hatti  Houmayun  of  1853,  however,  appears  to  have 
satisfied  the  Western  world  that  no  one  was  to  be  molested 
or  punished,  no  matter  what  form  of  faith  he  might  deny. 
Moslems  in  Turkey  evidently  took  that  view.  Many  began 
to  study  the  Scriptures,  sold  by  a  converted  Turkish  col- 
porteur. A  Turkish  gentleman  who  with  his  wife  had  be- 
come a  Christian  received  official  assurance  that  the  sultan 
intended  that  all  his  subjects  should  enjoy  perfect  religious 
freedom.  Moslems  openly  acknowledged  their  interest  in 
Christian  doctrine.  A  few  of  them  attended  a  daily  prayer 
meeting  of  the  missionaries.  Up  to  the  year  1860  forty  had 
been  baptized.  This  state  of  things  was  not  confined  to 
the  capital.  Turks  who  had  been  baptized  in  different 
centres  of  the  interior  lived  on  in  their  own  towns  undis- 
turbed. In  his  preface  to  his  "Religion  in  the  East," 
dated  1860,  Dr.  Wortabet,  an  Armenian  Protestant  res- 
ident in  Syria,  and  a  member  of  the  American  mission, 
wrote  as  if  a  new  era  had  indeed  set  in.  But  in  1864  the 
reaction  began.  It  is  the  habit  of  Turkish  rulers  to  let  ten- 
dencies work  uncontrolled  up  to  a  certain  point  and  then  to 
act  suddenly.  'Abd-el-Mejid  set  spies  to  watch  the  mission- 
aries as  well  as  Mohammedans  who  leaned  toward  their 
teaching.  A  score  of  Turks  were  arrested  on  coming  out  of 
church  and  thrown  into  prison  on  some  trumped-up  charge. 
It  is  always  easy  to  get  two  Moslem  witnesses  to  testify 
that  a  Christian  has  cursed  the  religion  of  the  prophet.  But 

1  This  declaration  is  quoted  by  Dr.  J.  L.  Barton,  secretary  of  the 
American  Board  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.),  in  his  authoritative  volume,  "Day- 
break in  Turkey"  (Boston,  1908).  On  this  general  subject  we  have 
followed  him  closely.  (See  pp.  248  ff.  of  his  work.) 


316  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

the  charge  might  have  nothing  to  do  with  religion.  The 
aim  was  to  get  the  converts  quietly  out  of  the  way.  Some 
were  exiled;  others  never  came  out  of  prison.  The  assur- 
ances given  to  Europe  prevented  direct  and  open  persecu- 
tion, but  none  the  less  a  Moslem  who  became  a  Christian 
was  obliged  to  flee  the  country.  Officially  the  death  penalty 
was  never  pronounced,  actually  a  converted  Moslem  stood 
in  fear  of  his  life.  There  are  many  forms  of  "sudden 
death"  in  Turkey.  Moreover,  the  convert  had  to  reckon 
with  unofficial  fanaticism,  perhaps  exhibited  by  his  own  kith 
and  kin,  who  in  their  own  view  had  been  irretrievably  dis- 
graced. Dr.  Barton  concludes  that  in  spite  of  its  reiterated 
declarations  of  religious-  liberty  the  Turkish  government 
never  intended  to  permit  the  right  of  Moslems  to  become 
Christians.  He  reports  a  conversation  with  a  prominent 
Turkish  official,  who,  after  stating  that  there  was  full  and 
complete  religious  liberty  for  all  subjects  of  the  empire, 
declared  that  no  power  on  earth  could  change  a  man  who 
once  had  become  a  Moslem.  "Whatever  he  can  say  or 
claim  cannot  alter  the  fact  that  he  is  a  Moslem  still,  and 
must  always  be  such.  It  is  therefore  an  absurdity  to  say 
that  a  Moslem  may  change  his  religion,  for  to  do  so  is  beyond 
his  power."  This  man  voiced  a  general  Moslem  opinion 
which  has  persisted  unaltered  since  the  recent  Turkish 
revolution,  if  indeed  it  has  not  been  accentuated  thereby. 
The  young  Turk  leaders,  many  of  whom  hold  liberal  or  even 
agnostic  religious  views,  believe  to  a  man  in  a  Mohammedan 
Turkey  as  a  fundamental  article  of  political  creed.  Justice 
to  all  races  and  faiths  they  are  glad  to  grant;  participation 
in  the  government  is  conceded;  but  the  final  control  is  to 
rest  with  the  Turks,  and  the  Turks  are  Mohammedans. 

Such  being  the  state  of  things  in  the  Turkish  Empire, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  direct  religious  work  among  the  Mo- 
hammedans of  Syria  and  Palestine  has  not  been  attempted 
on  any  large  scale.  No  society  that  made  ostentatious  dis- 
play of  such  a  work  would  be  allowed  to  continue  opera- 
tions in  these  lands.  Since  1875  work  among  Moslems  has 
been  conducted  more  extensively  and  systematically  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  of  the  Church  of  England  than 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  317 

by  any  other  society  working  in  the  near  East.  The  medical 
work  at  Gaza,  Nablus,  and  other  provincial  centres  has  been 
very  encouraging,  as  indeed  such  work  always  is  by  what- 
ever agency  it  is  conducted,  but  the  attempt  to  follow  up 
impressions  made  on  patients  by  sending  catechists  to  the 
villages,  where  they  have  returned  after  recovery,  has  been 
acknowledged  by  a  prominent  worker  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  to  be  unsuccessful.1 

The  history  of  American  missions  tells  a  similar  tale. 
Turning  over  the  fascinating  pages  of  Dr.  H.  H.  Jessup's 
"  Fifty- three  Years  in  Syria,"  one  reads  from  time  to  time 
of  a  Moslem  convert;  but  in  almost  every  case,  a  little  later 
on,  one  reads  how  the  new  convert  was  obliged  to  leave  the 
country.  Such  impression  as  Protestant  Christianity  has 
made  on  the  Moslems  has  been  through  the  dissemination  of 
the  Bible,  the  extent  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  gauge;  through 
the  schools  where  Moslem  children  attend;  through  the 
colleges;  and  through  admiration  for  the  character  of  the 
missionaries  themselves.  Powerful,  indeed,  is  this  last- 
named  form  of  influence,  for  these  missionaries  come  into 
contact  with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  including 
religious  leaders  among  the  Moslems.  Friendly  relations 
once  established — and  with  courtesy,  tact,  and  patience  the 
task  is  easy — intercourse  becomes  wonderfully  frank.  For 
the  first  time  Puritan  Islam  comes  in  contact  with  Puritan 
Christianity.  The  'ulama,  or  doctors  of  the  Moslem  law, 
begin  to  realize  that  elaborate  forms  and  ceremonies, 
adoration  before  pictures  and  images,  which  to  them  means 
nothing  but  idolatry,  the  burning  of  incense  and  the  mystery 
that  enshrouds  the  Greek  service  of  the  mass,  the  assump- 
tions of  all  the  clergy  and  the  pomp  of  the  prelates,  are  no 
essential  part  of  the  practice  of  the  Christian  faith.  Pious 
and  upright  men  they  have  known  among  followers  of  the 
Eastern  churches  and  among  Roman  Catholic  missionaries, 
but  among  the  Protestants  they  find  a  lofty  morality  un- 

1  See  extract  from  a  report  made  in  1905  by  the  Rev.  T.  F.  Wolters, 
for  thirty  years  a  missionary  in  Palestine,  quoted  by  Dr.  Julius  Richter 
in  his  "History  of  Protestant  Missions  in  the  Near  East,"  p.  254; 
English  translation. 


318  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

hampered  by  elements  that  appear  to  them  to  be  not  only 
useless  but  pernicious.  Such  men  as  Bishop  Gobat,  of 
Jerusalem;  Dr.  Crawford,  of  Damascus;  Drs.  Thomson, 
Van  Dyck,  and  Jessup,  of  Beyrout;  Mr.  Calhoun  and  Mr. 
Bird,  of  'Abeih;  Mr.  Gerald  F.  Dale,  of  Zahleh;  Mr.  Falls- 
cheer,  of  Nablus — to  name  only  a  few  of  those  who  are  gone 
— received  the  willing  tribute  of  love,  honor,  and  reverence 
from  Moslems,  Druses,  and  Christians.  The  death  of  such 
men  comes  as  a  public  calamity.  When  Mr.  Fallscheer 
passed  away  in  one  of  the  fanatical  centres  of  Palestine— 
Nablus,  the  ancient  Shechem — Mohammedans  joined  with 
Christians  in  pleading  for  the  right  to  carry  his  coffin  from 
the  church  to  the  grave.  "  Our  father  is  dead,"  they  said, 
"  and  we  are  orphans."  1 

The  progress  of  missionary  effort  among  the  Druses  has 
been  hampered  by  their  very  readiness  to  accept  Chris- 
tianity, following  the  operation  of  a  fundamental  doctrine 
inherited  from  the  Isma'iliyeh,  which  permits  them  to  de- 
clare themselves  to  be  of  any  faith  that  suits  their  conven- 
ience. "Other  religions  are  cloaks,"  so  says  the  old  doc- 
trine. "The  esoteric  religion  is  the  real  man.  God  knows 
your  heart,  so  put  on  the  cloak  of  any  religion  that  suits 
your  purpose."  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  get  a  native 
Christian  to  acknowledge  the  possibility  of  the  actual  con- 
version of  any  Druse.  While  the  sincerity  of  individual  con- 
versions has  been  tested  in  the  judgment  of  English  and 
American  missionaries,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  general 
conduct  of  the  Druses  gives  support  to  the  cynical  attitude 
of  the  Syrians.  Before  their  conquest  by  Ibrahim  Pasha  in 
1835,  the  Druses  had  made  some  pretence  of  being  Moslems, 
lest  they  be  confounded  with  the  Christians  who  suffered 
oppression.  When  the  conqueror,  however,  proposed  to 
draft  these  splendid  sons  of  the  Lebanon  mountains  into  his 
army,  they  determined  to  seek  immunity  by  declaring  them- 
selves to  be  Protestants.  Almost  every  day  for  several 
years  the  American  missionaries  were  pestered  with  deputa- 
tions from  this  or  that  village,  begging  for  preachers,  for 
schools,  for  catechists.  Naturally  the  Americans  proceeded 
1  Quoted  in  Richter's  work  (op.  tit.),  pp.  233,  234. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  319 

with  caution,  but  a  few  schools  were  opened  and  a  certain 
number  of  persons  who  went  through  a  period  of  probation 
were  baptized.  To  this  movement  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment put  a  stop,  in  1842,  by  sending  an  army  into  the  Druse 
district  and  by  forcibly  exacting  a  promise  from  the  sheikhs 
that  neither  they  nor  their  villages  would  ever  apostatize 
from  Islam.  That  the  chief  aim  of  the  government  was  to 
check  a  definite  movement  that  might  further  strengthen  the 
influence  of  the  English  in  the  Lebanon,  rather  than  to 
announce  a  religious  principle,  may  be  gathered  from  a 
"  fetwa,"  or  decision  of  the  mufti  of  Beyrout,  only  five  years 
later,  who  pronounced  the  Druses  to  be  infidels  and  there- 
fore not  liable  to  death  for  apostasy  from  Islam!  * 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted  that  the  wholesale 
adoption  of  another  faith  by  the  people  of  a  given  church  is 
a  favorite  form  of  threat  to  be  held  over  their  own  clergy 
when  they  want  their  own  way.  We  have  seen  how  the 
Beyrout  Orthodox  threatened  to  become  Anglicans  when 
their  plans  for  securing  the  bishop  of  their  own  choice  were 
temporarily  thwarted  by  the  holy  synod;  and  how  the 
Maronites  declared  they  would  invite  the  Mohammedans 
to  build  a  mosque  in  the  heart  of  the  patriarch's  own  territory 
if  he  continued  to  antagonize  their  wishes.  I  remember 
the  tone  of  perfect  impartiality  with  which  a  lad  from  a  town 
north-east  of  Damascus  told  me,  as  we  jogged  along  toward 
Palmyra,  how  his  fellow-villagers  had  announced  to  their 
priest  that  they  would  become  "either  Protestants  or  Mos- 
lems" if  he  would  not  give  in  to  them  in  some  matter  or 
other  that  had  provoked  a  big  quarrel.  For  similar  reasons 
any  announcement  of  individual  "  conversion  "  to  Protestant- 
ism in  Syria  has  to  be  carefully  investigated,  as  some  ulterior 
motive  has  often  been  responsible  for  an  alleged  change  of 
heart. 

Mission  work  among  the  Nuseirlyeh  was  started  in  1854 
by  an  independent  English  missionary,  Rev.  Samuel  Lyde, 
who  died  in  1860.  The  work  was  carried  on  by  the  Ameri- 

1  See  a  pamphlet  entitled  "A  Brief  Chronicle  of  the  Syrian  Mission," 
edited  by  Drs.  Lowrie  and  Jessup,  and  issued  by  the  American  Press 
at  Beyrout,  1901. 


320  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

can  Reformed  Presbyterians,  resulting  in  the  establishment 
of  forty  schools  and  in  the  baptism  of  a  few  individuals. 
But  the  government,  acting  even  more  forcibly  than  it  had 
with  the  Druses,  closed  the  schools,  drafted  the  converts 
into  the  army,  and  pronounced  the  entire  people  to  be 
Mohammedans.1  Thus  the  work  among  the  Nuseiriyeh 
was  entirely  checked. 

In  Palestine  proper,  there  are  at  least  eighty  thousand 
Jews  at  the  present  day.  In  Syria  there  are  some  sixty 
thousand.  Taken  as  a  whole  the  Palestinian  Jews  hardly 
concern  our  present  work,  for  they  form  no  organic  part  of 
the  native  inhabitants  of  Turkey.  They  use  Arabic  only 
when  they  are  forced  to  communicate  with  the  natives; 
they  preserve  to  a  large  extent  the  manners  and  customs  of 
the  various  European  ghettos  from  which  they  come;  and 
probably  the  great  majority  of  them  are  not  Turkish  sub- 
jects. Since  1490  Safed,  indeed,  has  been  without  inter- 
ruption the  home  of  Jews;  but  with  the  exception  of  one 
family  or  clan  the  Hebrew  inhabitants  speak  no  Arabic. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  have  practically  forced  their  Moslem 
neighbors  to  speak  the  language  of  the  Bible.  How  far 
this  use  of  biblical  Hebrew  in  Safed  has  been  due  to  the 
stimulus  of  Zionism  I  am  not  aware,  but  it  is  certain  that 
owing  to  this  movement  biblical  Hebrew  has  greatly  spread 
in  Palestine,  being  used  even  in  business  correspondence 
between  Zionist  banks.  The  present  large  Jewish  popula- 
tion in  Jerusalem  is  largely  due  to  the  enforced  exodus  from 
Russia  and  Roumania  after  the  fierce  persecutions  of  1882. 
The  Arabic-speaking  Jews,  to  the  number  of  some  five  thou- 
sand, are  mainly  from  Yemen.  There  are  some  ten  thousand 
Jews  scattered  in  about  thirty-three  agricultural  colonies, 
found  almost  literally  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  but  they  live 
practically  isolated  from  their  Arab  neighbors  even  when 
they  employ  these  as  workmen. 

Mission  work  has  been  conducted  among  the  Hebrews 
of  Palestine  since  1825  by  the  London  Society  for  Promotion 
of  Christianity  among  the  Jews.  The  centre  of  operations 
is  Christ  Church  in  Jerusalem,  built  in  1849,  when  there  was 

1  See  Richter  (op.  tit.),  p.  209. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  321 

no  other  Protestant  church  in  the  Holy  Land  proper.  Since 
1839  some  four  hundred  adults  have  been  baptized  and 
about  three  hundred  infants,  children  of  the  former.  The 
beautiful  hospital  of  the  society  has  stimulated  the  efforts 
of  Hebrews  in  the  line  of  medical  work  for  their  own  race. 
The  society  maintains  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  a  book 
depot,  and  a  house  of  industry.  There  are  stations  at  Jaffa, 
Damascus,  and  Safed.  Tiberias  was  occupied  by  the  mis- 
sion of  the  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  in  1884.  Over- 
looking the  Sea  of  Galilee  a  well-equipped  hospital  has  been 
built.  At  Hebron  also  this  society  carries  on  medical  work, 
and  it  has  schools  in  Safed.  Richter  states  that  there  are 
only  slightly  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  baptized  Jews 
now  in  the  Holy  Land,  but  adds :  "  These  form,  however,  but 
a  small  proportion  of  the  Jews  that  have  become  Protestants, 
for  very  many  have  emigrated  to  escape  persecution."  1 

The  Jews  found  in  Aleppo,  Damascus,  and  elsewhere  in 
Syria  are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  natives  of  the  land, 
knowing  no  language  but  Arabic.  They  all  follow  the 
Sephardic  rite.  Among  them  mission  work  has  not  made 
much  progress.  A  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  England  stationed  at  Aleppo  declares  that  the  fifteen 
thousand  or  twenty  thousand  Jews  there  resident  are  hardly 
more  than  Hebrews  in  name,  ignorant  not  only  of  their  own 
religious  history,  but  of  the  Old  Testament.  They  of  course 
attend  the  synagogue,  and  they  scrupulously  observe  the 
Day  of  Atonement  by  the  rabbinical  custom  of  killing  a 
white  cock  for  a  man  and  a  hen  for  a  woman ;  but  otherwise 
they  share  many  of  the  superstitions  of  the  native  Moslems 
and  Christians.  In  view  of  these  facts  I  was  astonished  to 
learn  from  the  same  authority  that  every  Jew  in  Aleppo, 
unless  he  is  too  poor,  pays  his  yearly  shekel  toward  the 
maintenance  of  Zionism.  This  is  all  the  more  extraordinary 
in  view  of  the  attitude  of  the  average  Jerusalem  Jew  toward 
this  movement.  While  there  are  a  score  of  prominent  Zion- 
ists in  the  Holy  Land,  it  may  be  confidently  stated  that  Zion- 
ism means  more  in  Vienna  and  Paris,  in  London  and  New 
York,  than  it  does  in  Palestine.  To  the  pious  Orthodox 

1  Richter  (op.  a'/.),  P-  256. 


322  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

Jews  of  Jerusalem,  political  Zionism  is  folly,  if  it  is  not 
blasphemy.  God,  they  hold,  is  to  bring  back  the  Jews  in 
His  own  time  and  way  without  human  plan  or  assistance. 
To  the  thousands  of  Jews  who  earn  their  daily  living  in  the 
holy  city,  Zionism  has  no  significance  one  way  or  the  other. 

The  Rev.  J.  E.  Hanauer,  missionary  of  the  London  Jews' 
Society  in  Damascus,  states  that  it  may  be  assumed  the  Jews 
have  lived  there  continuously  from  the  time  of  the  Caliph 
'Omar.  Before  that  period  they  were  excluded.  Even 
later  they  suffered  persecution.  My  missionary  friend  has 
heard  a  number  of  versions  of  a  tradition  explaining  how 
this  was  changed  to  tolerance.  In  the  days  of  storm  and 
stress  ten  rabbis  met  together  and  agreed  that  for  the  good 
of  their  race  they  would  devote  themselves  to  perdition  by 
becoming  Moslems.  They  felt  that  by  working  within  the 
pale  of  Islam  they  might  be  able  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  their  brethren.  An  angel  appeared  to  them — or,  accord- 
ing to  one  tradition,  they  heard  the  Bath  Kol,  daughter  of 
the  voice  of  God — sanctioning  their  plan.  Accordingly 
they  abjured  the  faith,  accepted  Islam,  and  induced  the 
authorities  to  treat  the  main  body  of  Jews  with  more  justice 
and  kindness.  The  ruined  mosque  of  Sheikh  Arslan,  out- 
side the  north-east  corner  of  the  city  walls,  is  said  to  have 
been  named  from  one  of  these  ten  rabbis.  Not  far  away  the 
traveller  is  shown  the  place  where  Saint  Paul  was  let  down 
in  a  basket  to  escape  from  persecution,  that  he  might  live 
to  preach  the  Christ  who  had  appeared  to  him  as  he  first 
approached  the  city.  It  was  this  same  Paul  who  later  de- 
clared that  he  was  willing  to  be  "  accursed  "  for  the  brethren's 
sake! 

In  Damascus  there  are  now  about  twenty-five  thousand 
Jews.  Work  among  these  by  the  London  Society  has  been 
much  impeded  through  lack  of  funds.  There  are,  how- 
ever, day-schools  and  Sunday-schools,  largely  attended  Bible 
classes  for  young  men  of  the  better  class,  visitations  by  Bible 
women,  and  mothers'  meetings.  Service  is  conducted  at 
present  in  a  hired  chapel.  Work  among  the  Hebrews  of 
Beyrout  is  conducted  by  the  Church  of  Scotland  Mission 
to  the  Jews,  which  maintains  excellent  schools. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  323 

The  highly  successful  work  among  the  churches  of  the 
East  which  was  stimulated  by  the  establishment  of  the 
propaganda  at  Rome  in  1622,  and  which  culminated  in  the 
formation  of  the  Uniate  bodies  or  such  portions  of  the  old 
churches  as  accepted  the  allegiance  of  the  pope,  while  in  the 
main  retaining  their  own  ritual  and  local  hierarchy,  has  been 
already  treated  in  these  pages  with  considerable  detail. 
Undoubtedly  the  movement  was  begun  as  a  true  missionary 
enterprise,  consciously  aiming  at  the  spiritual  revival  of  the 
apathetic  Eastern  bodies  and  working  for  the  instruction  of 
their  clergy,  who  were  mainly  in  a  state  of  great  ignorance. 
But  in  seeking  to  achieve  such  a  result,  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  conducted  a  definite  work  of  proselytizing.  Before 
all,  these  Eastern  Christians  were  to  become  Catholics. 
Every  attempt  to  reform  their  conduct  was,  in  the  mind  of 
the  missionaries,  logically  linked  with  the  purpose  of  restor- 
ing these  schismatics  or  heretics,  as  the  case  might  be,  to 
papal  allegiance.  Among  these  missionaries  there  have 
been  and  there  are  to-day  many  men  of  piety  and  wisdom. 
In  his  sketch  of  the  papal  propaganda  in  Mesopotamia, 
Parry  dwells  on  the  zeal  of  the  present  Roman  missiona- 
ries, on  their  liberality  in  dealing  with  the  lower  clergy  of 
the  United  bodies,  on  their  noble,  self-sacrificing  character, 
and  on  the  great  amount  of  good  which  they  have  accom- 
plished.1 

Consider  we  now  the  attitude  toward  the  Eastern  churches 
entertained  by  the  first  missionaries  of  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  who  entered  Pales- 
tine early  in  the  last  century.  There  was  no  intention  of 
proselytizing.  The  thought  of  forming  a  native  Protestant 
community  was  not  contemplated.  A  concrete  instance 
will  illustrate  this  attitude  better  than  any  general  state- 
ment. The  Rev.  Levi  Parsons  landed  in  Jaffa  on  the 
morning  of  February  17,  1821,  and  proceeded  at  once  to 
Jerusalem,  where  he  arrived  at  five  in  the  afternoon.  He 
went  at  once  to  the  house  of  Procopius,  the  agent  of  the  Brit- 
ish and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  who  was  at  the  same  time 
assistant  of  the  patriarch  having  charge  of  all  the  Greek 
1  "Six  Months  in  a  Syrian  Monastery  "  (op.  tit.),  pp.  301  ff. 


324  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

monasteries.  Procopius  had  gone  to  attend  the  evening 
prayer  at  the  chapel  of  the  great  convent.  "  Without  a  mo- 
ment's delay,"  writes  Mr.  Parsons,  "  I  hastened  thither  to 
unite  with  the  professed  followers  of  Christ  on  Mount 
Calvary,  and  to  render  thanks  to  God  for  the  happy  termi- 
nation of  n?y  voyage  to  the  holy  city.  .  .  .  Everything  was 
conducted  with  a  pleasing  stillness  and  regularity  becom- 
ing so  holy  a  place."  Later  he  attended  mass,  as  well  as 
the  Easter  ceremonies  at  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  His  spirit 
was  sympathetic  rather  than  censorious.  To  be  sure,  he 
mildly  wondered,  after  witnessing  the  antics  of  the  Greek 
populace  at  the  ceremony  of  the  holy  fire,  why  the  hierarchy, 
in  maintaining  the  superiority  of  their  own  form  of  Christian- 
ity, had  failed  to  mention  this  feature,  but  we  find  no  right- 
eous fulminations  against  "gross  superstition,"  "impious 
idolatry,"  "stupendous  ignorance,"  and  such  like.  His, 
rather,  were  gentler  methods.  During  his  few  months'  stay 
in  Jerusalem,  encouraged  by  the  priests,  he  received  constant 
visits  from  pilgrims  and  other  members  of  the  Greek  Church, 
reading  and  expounding  the  Bible  to  willing  ears.  He  was 
much  cheered  by  the  results.  "If  then,"  he  says,  "a  mis- 
sionary can  reside  here  with  no  other  employment  than  to 
read  the  Scriptures  with  pilgrims,  not  uttering  a  word  re- 
specting Catholics,  Greeks,  or  Turks,  a  great  work  may  be 
accomplished." 

Such  was  the  spirit  of  the  first  American  missionaries  all 
over  Turkey.  Speaking  of  the  work  farther  north,  Dr. 
Barton  declares  that  it  was  not  the  policy  of  the  American 
board  to  weaken  the  Armenian  Gregorian  Church  or  to 
proselytize  from  it;  rather  those  who,  after  hearing  the 
preaching  of  the  missionaries,  felt  that  they  must  separate 
themselves  from  it  were  persuaded  to  remain  within  its 
fold  and  there  to  work  for  the  gradual  reform  of  its  super- 
stitions and  abuses.  Even  as  late  as  1839,  after  the  reac- 
tionary party  within  the  ancient  church  had  elected  as 
patriarch  a  bigot  who  forbade  the  circulation  of  Protestant 
books  among  his  followers,  the  Americans  urged  members  of 
the  Armenian  Church  who  entertained  evangelical  views  to 
1  See  the  "Missionary  Herald"  for  1822,  p.  33. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  325 

wait  patiently  till  such  tyranny  were  overpast.  Not  until  the 
patriarch,  in  1846,  issued  a  sweeping  bill  of  excommunica- 
tion against  all  Gregorians  who  favored  the  Protestants,  was 
there  any  definite  idea  of  organizing  an  Armenian  Protestant 
Church  at  Constantinople.  In  1850  all  the  Protestants 
of  the  empire,  irrespective  of  their  former  ecclesiastical 
allegiance — Armenian,  Greek,  Maronite — were  recognized 
as  a  definite  community  in  a  firman  issued  by  the  sultan.1 
Beyrout,  which  for  eighty  years  has  been  the  centre  of  the 
American  mission  in  Syria,  was  first  occupied  by  the  Rev. 
Pliny  Fisk  in  1823.  At  first  his  experiences  were  similar  to 
those  of  Mr.  Parsons  in  Jerusalem.  Members  of  all  creeds 
showed  interest  in  the  exposition  of  evangelical  doctrine. 
But  the  Roman  Catholics,  alarmed  at  the  success  of  the 
new  movement,  took  prompt  measures  to  crush  it.  It  has 
been,  and  still  is,  a  lamentable  tendency  of  the  warring 
Christian  sects  in  Turkey  to  seek  the  aid  of  the  Moslem 
authorities,  who  thus  favor  now  one  party,  now  another. 
In  1824  the  papal  missionaries  induced  the  sultan  to  issue 
a  firman  forbidding  the  distribution  of  the  Bible  in  Turkey. 
This  order,  indeed,  became  a  dead  letter,  in  consequence  of 
the  vigorous  action  of  the  British  consul,  when  Messrs. 
Bird  and  Fisk  were  arrested  for  selling  Bibles  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem.  The  co-operation  of  the  powerful  Maronite 
patriarch,  then  a  very  sovereign  in  his  Lebanon  mountains, 
was  far  more  effective.  Opposition  to  the  Americans  spread 
among  the  Maronite  clergy  and  people.  Absurd  tales  were 
afloat  about  the  missionaries.  It  was  believed  by  the  credu- 
lous that  they  paid  ten  piasters  (forty  cents)  a  head  for  con- 
verts, which  sum  was  like  the  widow's  cruse  of  oil,  never 
decreasing  through  spending;  that  they  drew  pictures  of 
their  converts  so  that  if  any  one  recanted  they  might  cause 
his  death  by  destroying  his  likeness;  that  they  shot  their 
sins  to  heaven  with  a  gun.2  But  the  situation  had  its  tragic 
element.  \  As'ad  esh-Shidiaq,  a  brilliant  young  Maronite 
scholar,  who  had  been  secretary  to  the  patriarch,  gave  in- 

1  See  Dr.  Barton's  work,  "Daybreak  in  Turkey  "  (op.  tit.},  pp.  157  ff. 

2  See  Wortabet's  "Religion  in  the  East"  (op.  tit.),  p.  361;  also  Jes- 
sup's  "Fifty-three  Years  in  Syria "  (op.  tit.),  vol.  I,  p.  35. 


326  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

struction  in  Syriac  and  Arabic  to  Mr.  King,  author  of  the 
locally  famous  "Farewell  Letters/'  which  gave  his  reasons 
for  antagonizing  the  errors  of  Rome.  Shidiaq  not  only 
polished  the  Arabic  of  these  letters,  but  ended  by  accepting 
the  views  therein  advocated.  By  the  command  of  the  pa- 
triarch, in  the  year  1826  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  desolate 
monastery  of  Qannubin,  which  hides  in  the  deep  gorge  of 
the  Qadisha.  There  he  was  chained,  tortured  and  beaten. 
The  peasants  were  encouraged  to  visit  his  cell,  to  spit  in  his 
face,  to  call  him  vile  names.  Once  he  was  assisted  to 
escape,  but  he  was  recaptured  and  finally  died  amid  the 
filth  of  his  prison.1 

The  persecution  which  this  incident  illustrates  resulted 
in  the  formation  of  a  native  Protestant  body.  In  1829  the 
Maronite  patriarch  pronounced  his  second  ban  against 
those  of  his  flock  who  approached  the  American  missionaries. 
"Let  them  be  hereby  excluded  from  all  Christian  society; 
let  the  curse  cover  them  as  a  garment  and  sink  into  their 
members  as  an  oil  and  make  them  wither  as  the  fig-tree 
which  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  has  cursed;  the  evil  spirit 
shall  also  take  possession  of  them,  torturing  them  day  and 
night;  no  one  shall  visit  or  greet  them."  2  Turned  out  of 
their  own  communion,  those  who  had  been  attracted  by  the 
preaching  of  the  Americans  demanded  shelter  in  the  Protes- 
tant fold.  The  missionaries  were  forced  thus  to  give  up 
direct  attempts  at  reforming  the  Oriental  churches  from 
within.  But  while  individuals  were  admitted  to  the  Protes- 
tant communion,  it  was  not  till  1848  that  the  first  Syrian 
Evangelical  Church  was  organized  in  Beyrout  with  eighteen 
members,  including  four  women.3  Splendid  types  of  men 
were  some  of  the  first  Protestants — grave,  earnest,  dignified. 
By  1857  there  were  four  such  churches  in  Syria  with  seventy- 
five  members.  At  the  present  day  the  communicants  num- 
ber over  two  thousand  eight  hundred.  In  1870  the  care  of 

1  The    details  of  the    imprisonment  are  quoted  by  Dr.  Wortabet 
(pp.  362  and  363)  from  the  "History  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,"  by  Joseph 
Tracy. 

2  Quoted  by  Richter  (op.  cit.),  in  a  foot-note  on  p.  188. 

*  For  the  constitution  of  the  church,  see  Wortabet  (op.  cit.),  pp.  402  ff. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  327 

the  Syrian  mission  was  transferred  from  the  Congregational 
Board  (A.  B.  C.  F.  M.)  to  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  (North),  but  regular  presbyterial  organization  was 
not  attempted  till  1882.  The  Syrian  synod  now  includes 
three  presbyteries.  The  entire  Protestant  community  in 
Syria  and  Palestine,  resulting  from  the  work  of  many 
societies,  amounts  to  about  ten  thousand  souls.  Consider- 
ing that,  all  told,  some  thirty-eight  different  Protestant 
agencies  have'been  at  work,  the  number  seems  small  enough. 
Richter  ascribes  this  to  the  especially  malignant  character 
of  the  persecution  to  which  those  who  have  declared  them- 
selves Protestants  have  been  liable.  Such  persecution  has 
not  come  only  from  the  papal  bodies.  But  while  the  atti- 
tude of  the  Greeks  has  usually  been  milder,  the  terrible  ex- 
periences of  the  Protestants  of  Safita,  before  the  middle  of 
the  last  century,  were  due  to  the  co-operation  of  the  Greek 
bishop  with  the  Turkish  authorities.  For  a  number  of 
reasons,  among  which  the  spirit  of  the  times  is  prominent, 
direct  persecution  tends  to  grow  less  and  less. 

Undertaken  as  an  indirect  way  of  preaching  the  gospel, 
in  the  providence  of  God  education  has  turned  out  to  be  the 
most  powerful  of  all  means  for  the  spread  of  genuinely 
evangelical  ideas.  Stress  was  early  laid  on  this  feature  of 
the  work  by  the  American  mission.  It  was  a  prophetic 
instinct.  A  boys'  school  was  soon  started.  The  first  girls' 
school  ever  established  in  the  Turkish  Empire  was  opened 
at  Beyrout  in  1830.  These  primary  schools  were  the  seeds 
of  an  educational  system,  involving  all  nations  and  creeds, 
that  now  flowers  luxuriantly  all  over  Syria  and  Palestine. 
When  excavating  an  ancient  site  a  dozen  years  since,  near 
the  town  of  Zakariya,  I  missed  one  day  the  white  turban  of 
one  of  my  boy  basket-carriers.  It  turned  out  that  'Abd 
el-Latif  had  been  haled  back  to  the  little  village  school 
by  the  local  "scribe,"  acting  as  truant-officer  for  the  De- 
partment of  Public  Instruction  at  Jerusalem.  About  the 
same  time  this  department  had  placed  the  care  of  a  flourish- 
ing Moslem  girls'  school  in  the  holy  city  in  the  hands  of  an 
American  lady. 

The  first  boarding-school  for  boys,  established  in  Beyrout 


328  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

in  1840,  was  transferred  to  the  mountains  in  1846,  and  be- 
came the  famous  'Abeih  Academy,  where  so  many  Protes- 
tant scholars  were  trained.  In  the  same  year  a  boarding- 
school  for  girls  was  opened  in  Beyrout.  In  the  course  of 
time  schools  of  different  grades  spread  over  Syria.  To-day 
the  pupils  of  the  common  schools,  high-schools,  industrial 
schools,  and  the  theological  seminary  number  nearly  five 
thousand.  But  the  schools  of  the  American  Presbyterian 
mission  form  but  a  part  of  the  Protestant  educational  work 
of  Syria  and  Palestine.  Almost  all  of  the  thirty-eight  Prot- 
estant agencies  now  active  in  these  lands — English,  Scotch, 
Irish,  German,  Swedish,  Danish — have  their  school  systems 
all  conducted  on  much  the  same  lines,  with  the  Arabic 
Scriptures  as  a  main  feature  of  instruction.  This  Arabic 
translation,  begun  by  Dr.  Eli  Smith  in  1849  and  completed 
by  Dr.  Van  Dyck  in  1865,  is  pronounced  to  be  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  versions  ever  made.  Printed  at  the  Beyrout 
Press,  it  has  wide  circulation  over  the  whole  Arabic-speaking 
world.1  By  order  of  their  director-in-chief  it  has  been  in- 
troduced in  all  the  Russian  schools  which  to-day  honey- 
comb the  patriarchate  of  Antioch.  Of  the  many  Protestant 
schools  we  may  signalize  without  invidiousness  those  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  of  England,  with  over  three 
thousand  scholars  in  Palestine;  the  schools  of  the  Prussian 
deaconesses,  with  the  orphanage  at  Beyrout;  and  the  most 
practical  and  efficient  work  of  the  British  Syrian  schools  for 
girls,  spread  all  over  Syria,  with  some  over  four  thousand 
pupils.  No  institution,  however,  has  interested  me  more 
than  the  high-school  at  Hums,  maintained  by  the  local 
Protestant  church,  and  housed  in  a  new  building  erected 
mainly  by  native  money.  I  am  tempted  to  name  its  leading 
spirit,  but  I  remember  the  modesty  of  this  gentle  soul  and 
refrain. 

The  Protestant  schools  early  acted  as  a  stimulus  on  the 
other  cults,  whose  educational  establishment  had  chiefly 
been  confined  to  the  training  of  priests.  Once  Dr.  Van 
Dyck  was  asked  what  errand  he  had  in  visiting  a  small 

1  From  this  press  have  been  issued  a  large  number  of  religious  and 
educational  works,  mostly  in  Arabic. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  329 

village.  "  I  am  going  to  open  two  schools,"  he  said,  adding, 
with  a  twinkle  of  the  eye,  as  he  saw  the  anticipated  look 
of  surprise  on  the  face  of  his  questioner,  "  I  shall  open  one 
to-day;  the  Jesuits  will  open  the  other  to-morrow!"  l  By 
the  year  1877  in  Beyrout  there  were  schools  managed  by 
Protestants,  Latins,  Greek  Orthodox,  Greek  Catholics, 
Maronites,  Jews,  and  Moslems.  Twenty  years  later  this 
much-instructed  town,  then  possessing  one  hundred  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  possessed  sixty-seven  schools  for  boys 
and  thirty-six  schools  for  girls,  with  an  aggregate  attend- 
ance of  over  fifteen  thousand.  Since  then  schools  and 
scholars  have  increased.  It  is  no  wonder  that  on  installing 
a  number  of  lines  of  electric  trams  in  1909  the  company  was 
able  to  demand  that  every  conductor  should  speak  either 
French  or  English.  I  fear  that  the  attempt  to  enforce  such 
an  ordinance  in  London  or  New  York,  requiring,  say,  the 
knowledge  of  French  or  German,  would  cause  more  incon- 
venience to  the  public  than  a  strike  even! 

The  crown  of  the  Protestant  educational  work  in  Syria 
is  universally  acknowledged  to  be  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College  at  Beyrout.  It  has  also  served  to  stimulate  activity 
for  higher  education  in  the  other  cults.  For  example,  at 
Beyrout  we  find  colleges  founded,  at  different  periods  after 
the  American  school,  by  the  Jesuits,  the  Greek  Catholics, 
and  the  Maronites.  The  Greek  Orthodox  College,  con- 
ceived on  a  large  scale  by  the  Greek  bishop,  exists  still  largely 
in  plan.  The  Syrian  Protestant  College  is  by  birth  a  child 
of  the  American  mission.  In  1862  this  body  wisely  decided 
that  the  country  was  ripe  for  an  institution  of  higher  learn- 
ing, but  that  this  should  be  independent  of  the  mission,  while 
in  full  co-operation  therewith.  The  American  board  then 
released  Daniel  Bliss,  who  had  served  as  missionary  in 

1  It  is  only  fair  to  note  that  the  Jesuits  tell  similar  tales  of  Protes- 
tant rivalry.  The  College  of  'Ain  Tura,  in  the  Kesrouan  district  of  the 
Lebanon,  was  established  by  the  Jesuits  in  1734.  Later  this  was  turned 
over  to  the  Lazarists.  Jesuit  work  became  active  again  in  Syria  at 
the  time  of  Ibrahim  Pasha.  The  University  of  Saint  Joseph  at  Bey- 
rout (established  after  the  Syrian  Protestant  College),  with  its  academic 
and  medical  schools,  is  famous  for  its  excellent  teaching  of  French. 
From  the  Jesuit  printing-press  many  learned  works  have  been  issued. 


330  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

Syria  since  1855,  that  he  might  organize  the  new  enterprise. 
A  board  of  trustees  was  formed  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  institution  was  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  Those  were  strenuous  war  times  in  America, 
but  sufficient  money  was  collected  there  and  in  England  to 
begin  the  college  in  1866.  It  was  started  in  a  hired  house 
with  sixteen  students  and  two  teachers  besides  Dr.  Bliss. 
All  instruction  was  given  through  the  medium  of  the  Arabic 
language,  though  French  and  English  formed  part  of  the 
curriculum.  Arabic  also  was  the  language  of  the  Medical 
Department,  inaugurated  the  next  year.  In  1882,  however, 
owing  principally  to  the  difficulty  of  keeping  up  with  the 
times  in  the  translation  of  text-books,  the  language  of  the 
college  was  changed  to  English.  This  change  immensely 
widened  its  scope  and  thus  was  prophetic  of  its  present  de- 
velopment. In  its  early  days  the  students  were  confined 
to  Syrians,  Egyptians,  and  dwellers  in  other  Arabic-speaking 
lands.  To-day  more  than  a  dozen  nationalities  are  rep- 
resented, including  seventy  Armenians  and  one  hundred 
Greeks.  The  geographical  area  from  which  come  the  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-four  students  enrolled  in  1911  ex- 
tends from  the  Ural  Mountains  to  the  Soudan,  and  from 
Greece  and  Egypt  to  Persia  and  India.  There  are  six  reg- 
ular departments  for  boys  and  men:  Preparatory,  Aca- 
demic, Commercial,  Medical,  Pharmaceutical,  and  Dental. 
The  Academic  Department,  or  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences, 
includes  a  teachers'  course.  The  Training  School  for 
Nurses  is  in  connection  with  a  system  of  hospitals  where 
the  medical  students  may  study  various  diseases  and  where 
the  sick  flock  from  all  over  the  land.  The  members  of  the 
corps  of  instruction  and  administration  number  seventy- 
seven.  Of  these  forty-one  are  Americans,  twenty-five 
Syrians,  four  Swiss  and  French,  three  Greeks,  two 
British,  and  two  Armenian.  The  Department  of  Biblical 
Archaeology  offers  inducements  to  students  from  Europe 
and  America  to  study  the  antiquities  of  Syria  on  the  spot. 
Turkish  diplomas  are  issued  to  such  medical  graduates  as 
pass  the  examinations  conducted  by  a  special  commission 
sent  by  the  Imperial  Medical  School  of  Constantinople. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  331 

These  seven  departments  are  housed  in  a  score  of  build- 
ings, spread  over  forty  acres,  on  a  bluff  overlooking  the 
Mediterranean,  with  the  magnificent  range  of  the  Lebanon 
in  full  view.  In  the  Medical  School  are  graduates  from  the 
other  missionary  colleges  of  Turkey:  Euphrates  College  at 
Harpoot;  Anatolia  College  at  Marsovan;  the  Central  Turkey 
College  at  'Aintab;  the  International  College  at  Smyrna; 
and  Saint  Paul's  Collegiate  Institute  at  Tarsus.  Friendly 
relations  are  maintained  with  Robert  College  at  Constan- 
tinople and  the  English  College  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  at  Jerusalem,  while  from  the  Protestant  secondary 
schools  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  too  numerous  to  name,  it 
draws  the  students  best  fitted  to  appreciate  its  own  mis- 
sionary spirit.  In  1902  Dr.  Daniel  Bliss  became  president 
emeritus,  being  succeeded  in  the  office  of  president  by  his 
son,  Dr.  Howard  Bliss.  From  its  very  inception  the  college 
has  had  no  more  active  worker  either  in  Syria  or  in  the 
United  States  than  Dr.  D.  Stuart  Dodge,  the  present 
president  of  the  board  of  trustees. 

Within  the  walls  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  are 
gathered  representatives  of  all  the  religious  cults  touched 
upon  in  this  book,  except  the  Nuseiriyeh  and  the  Isma- 
'iliyeh.  During  the  collegiate  year  of  1908-9  rather  less 
than  three-quarters  of  the  student  body  belonged  to  the 
various  Christian  sects,  the  rest  being  non-Christian.  Over 
one-half  of  the  Christian  students  were  Greek  Orthodox 
(forming  39  per  cent  of  the  whole  body  of  students) ;  about 
one-quarter  (or  17  per  cent  of  the  whole  number)  were 
Protestants,  while  the  rest  were  divided  among  the  follow- 
ing bodies,  named  in  order  of  numerical  strength:  Greek 
Catholic,  Armenian  Gregorian,  Maronite,  Coptic,  Roman 
Catholic,  Syrian  Jacobite,  Armenian  Catholic,  and  Syrian 
Catholic.  Of  the  non-Christian  students  over  half  were 
Moslems  (forming  14.5  per  cent  of  the  whole  body  of  stu- 
dents) ;  more  than  a  third  were  Jews,  the  rest  being  Druses 
and  Behais.  All  students  are  required  to  attend  the  preach- 
ing service  on  Sunday.  There  are  other  religious  exercises 
obligatory  on  certain  classes  of  students.  Membership 
in  the  Christian  Association  is,  of  course,  voluntary.  Early 


332  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

in  the  collegiate  year  of  1910-11,  two  hundred  and  seventy 
members  had  been  enrolled.  These  may  belong  to  any  one 
of  the  many  Christian  bodies,  while  there  is  a  pledge  for 
such  non-Christians — Moslems,  Jews,  etc. — as  may  wish  to 
become  associate  members.  The  attendance  at  the  open 
meetings  is  by  no  means  confined  to  members,  and  special 
services  often  attract  large  crowds.  Sectarianism  is  so  far 
removed  from  the  meetings  that  it  would  be  hard  to  detect 
a  difference  of  substance  or  of  spirit  in  the  prayers  or  re- 
marks of  Protestants  and  Maronites,  Greeks  and  Syrians. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  World's  Students'  Christian  Federation 
Conference  at  Constantinople,  conducted  in  1911  by  Dr. 
John  R.  Mott,  one  of  the  most  impressive  speeches  was 
made  by  a  Maronite  delegate  from  the  Syrian  Protestant 
College.  The  spirit  of  brotherhood  breathed  in  the  quiet 
of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  services  finds  ample  opportunity  for 
practical  testing  on  the  athletic  field,  where  the  son  of  a 
Druse  sheikh  may  have  to  own  that  he  is  beaten  by  the 
grandson  of  the  peasant  who  owed  feudal  allegiance  to  his 
family,  and  where  the  foot-ball  team  may  include  members 
of  half  a  dozen  Christian  sects  under  the  Moslem  captain. 
The  religious  life  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  College  is  a 
striking  vindication  of  the  programme  of  the  first  American 
missionaries,  if  we  regard  this  as  theory  or  as  prophecy; 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  it  is  an  equally  striking  vindication 
of  their  wisdom  in  departing  from  the  programme  in  view 
of  a  practical  necessity  forced  upon  them.  This  programme 
did  not  include  the  formation  of  a  native  Protestant  body, 
but  looked  toward  the  reformation  of  the  old  churches 
from  within.  How  the  creation  of  a  Protestant  church  was 
necessitated  by  the  hostile  action  of  the  prelates  toward  their 
followers  who  listened  to  the  missionaries,  we  have  seen. 
How  this  body,  once  formed,  has  never  assumed  large  pro- 
portions, we  have  also  seen.  But  that  its  influence  has 
reached  far  beyond  its  own  limits  can  be  strongly  asserted. 
Members  of  the  old  churches  assert  it  strongly  themselves. 
"You  have  not  built  up  a  large  sect,"  said  one  of  these 
recently  to  a  veteran  missionary,  "but  you  have  changed 
all  the  rest!" 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  333 

The  non-sectarianism  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  the  Beyrout 
College  owes  its  very  existence  to  the  formation  of  a  Prot- 
estant sect  in  Syria.  This  secured  in  advance  a  cohesion 
for  the  elaborate  system  of  schools,  later  developed,  in  which 
the  evangelical  leaven  has  already  worked  to  so  large  re- 
sults among  the  children  of  all  churches.  What  the  future 
history  of  the  Protestant  church  in  Syria  may  be  it  is  im- 
possible to  prophesy.  As  an  organization  it  may  increase 
or  it  may  decrease,  but  in  one  form  or  another  its  work  will 
go  on.  Decrease  in  numbers,  indeed,  may  be  in  inverse 
ratio  to  the  extension  of  its  real  influence.  The  pebble 
dropped  in  the  pond  sinks  out  of  sight,  but  the  circles  go 
on  ever  widening  for  all  who  care  to  look.  The  more  the 
older  churches  become  infused  with  vital  Christianity  the 
less  need  there  will  be  for  men  to  become  Protestants. 
This  revival,  however,  has  only  just  begun  in  Syria.  I  will 
frankly  admit  that  at  the  present  time  the  continuance  in 
the  old  churches  of  men  who  have  taken  the  evangelical 
point  of  view  involves  both  loss  and  gain.  The  loss  is  to 
the  individual  who,  keeping  a  nominal  connection  with  his 
own  church  whose  superstitions  he  has  ceased  to  share,  loses 
some  of  the  "means  of  grace."  But  while  he  may  suffer 
a  personal  loss,  his  church  will  enjoy  an  inestimable  gain, 
provided  that  he  join,  with  others  of  his  manner  of  thinking, 
in  the  work  of  purification  and  reform. 

Those  who  hope  for  reformation  within  the  old  churches 
of  Syria  and  Palestine  may  find  encouragement  in  results 
already  achieved  farther  north  in  the  Turkish  Empire. 
Writing  from  Constantinople  in  191 1,1  Dr.  Patton,  secretary 
of  the  American  board,  made  the  following  significant  state- 
ment: "I  consider  it  practically  assured  that  the  original 
purpose  of  the  board  toward  this  [the  Armenian  Gregorian] 
church  is  to  be  realized.  From  the  first  our  aim  has  been  to 
revitalize  a  church  which  had  lapsed  into  dead  formalism 
and  orthodoxy."  The  Armenian  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople impressed  him  as  a  man  of  fine  sincerity  and  earnest 
spiritual  life.  There  are  many  signs  that  the  Armenian 

1  See  his  article  in  the  "  Congregationalist "  for  January  19,  1911,  en- 
titled "Facing  Europe  and  Mecca." 


334  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST 

churches  and  people  are  awake  to  new  opportunities.  In 
1911  one  of  the  American  missionaries  at  Constantinople 
was  invited  within  a  period  of  two  weeks  to  preach  in  four 
Gregorian  churches.  A  number  of  students  preparing  to 
enter  the  Gregorian  priesthood  have  taken  their  theological 
training  at  the  seminaries  of  the  board.  Many  laymen  hold- 
ing evangelical  beliefs  who  once  would  have  been  forced 
to  become  Protestants  now  remain  in  the  old  church.  A 
committee  of  the  Gregorian  churches  of  Constantinople  has 
overtured  the  head  of  the  church,  the  Patriarch  of  Etch- 
mizian,  to  institute  a  council  for  church  reform.  Dr.  Bar- 
ton states  that  "there  are  probably  to-day  more  intelligent 
evangelical  believers  within  ,the  old  Gregorian,  Greek,  and 
Syrian  churches  than  comprise  the  entire  Protestant  body."  l 
But  the  religious  teaching  of  the  missionary  institutions 
of  Turkey  finds  response  in  the  hearts  of  many  who  belong 
to  no  Christian  body,  and  who  probably  will  never  formally 
abandon  their  own  cult.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
over  a  quarter  of  the  students  of  the  Syrian  Protestant  Col- 
lege at  Beyrout  come  under  this  category.  It  would  be  as 
unfair  to  ignore  the  existence  of  this  influence  as  it  would  be 
to  exaggerate  its  present  power.  What  its  future  power  may 
become  is  beyond  all  estimate.  If  ever  a  movement  of  re- 
form, both  practical  and  spiritual,  is  to  develop  and  succeed 
in  Islam — and  I,  for  one,  recalling  the  dark  days  of  Chris- 
tianity before  the  Protestant  Reformation,  do  not  despair 
of  it — this  will  be  led  by  men  who  have  been  taught  by 
Christian  missionaries  to  study  the  long-neglected  life  and 
teachings  of  Jesus,  whom,  under  the  name  of  'Isa,  they  hold 
in  theory  to  be  one  of  the  great  prophets  of  God.2 

So  much  in  all  fairness  can  be  said  for  the  influence  of 
the  West  on  the  cults  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  But  as  has 
been  earlier  hinted,  the  West  may  learn  something  from 
many,  if  not  from  all,  the  cults  of  the  East.  For  the  West 
but  brings  back  to  the  East  its  own.  Transplanted  across 

1  See  "Daybreak  in  Turkey  "  (op.  tit.},  p.  237. 

2  The  Moslems  hold  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Gospels,  but  believe  that 
these  have  been  altered  and  corrupted  by  Christians. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  WEST  335 

the  seas,  religion  may  have  flourished  more  vigorously,  may 
have  borne  fairer  and  sounder  flower  and  fruit,  but  the  seed 
was  first  dropped  in  the  soil  of  the  Orient.  And  this  seed 
still  germinates,  often  in  the  most  unexpected  places.  In  a 
richly  illuminated  Druse  manuscript  treating  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  human  body  in  a  manner  both  quaint  and  prac- 
tical, a  young  Maronite  friend  of  mine  found  the  words 
with  which  I  close  this  volume.  Now  the  Druses  are  never 
seen  to  pray,  except  at  a  public  funeral,  when,  perhaps  for 
the  sake  of  policy,  they  follow  the  Mohammedan  rite.  It  is 
popularly  believed  that  even  the  initiated  never  pray  even 
in  their  secret  meetings.  And  yet  these  words  of  the  old 
Druse  manuscript,  which  the  writer  recommends  his  read- 
ers to  repeat  when  they  go  to  bed,  constitute  a  prayer  which 
might  bring  a  benediction  on  any  true  believer,  Eastern  or 
Western : 

"To  Thee,  O  God,  I  come,  determining  to  do  what  is 
meet  in  Thy  sight.  Let  my  eye,  O  God,  sleep  in  Thy  obedi- 
ence. Let  my  strength  be  always  on  the  side  of  Thy  Grace. 
Take  unto  Thyself  my  waking  and  my  sleeping  hours; 
and  place  under  Thy  control  my  day  and  my  night.  Guard 
me,  O  God,  by  Thy  eye  which  sleepeth  not." 


APPENDIX 

1.  OFFICIAL  STATEMENT  ISSUED  FROM  THE  BUREAU 
OF  THE  GREEK  ORTHODOX  PATRIARCHATE  OF 
ALEXANDRIA  IN  ANSWER  TO  QUESTIONS 

1.  Question:    Est-ce-que  le  titre  "Oecumenique"  ne  donne  aucun 
privilege  au  patriarche  de  Constantinople? 

Answer:  Le  titre  "Oecumenique"  ne  donne  aucun  privilege  au 
patriarche  de  Constantinople.  Ce  titre  a  ete  donne  a  l'Eve"que  de 
Constantinople  par  des  Synodes  (Conciles)  du  VIs  siecle,  a  raison  de 
circonstances  locales  a  Constantinople  et  surtout  a  1'occasion  de  l'e"lec- 
tion  pour  le  Throne  de  Byzance  du  Directeur  de  1'Universite  de  la  Capi- 
tale,  nomme  Jean. 

Le  Patriarche  Oecumenique,  relativement  aux  autres  Patriarches, 
equivalents  a  celui-la,  ainsi  que  de  rapport  a  tout  eveque  qui  n'est  pas 
subordonne  au  Thr6ne  de  Constantinople,  est  simplement  "primus  inter 
pares." 

2.  Question:    Existe-t-il  des  circonstances  ou  le  gouvernement  du 
Sultan  peut  regarder  le  patriarche  Oecumenique  comme  chef  de  tous  les 
orthodoxes  (Millet-El-Roumi)  enTurquie? 

Answer:  Ab  antique,  (des  la  prise  de  Constantinople  par  les  Turcs) 
le  Patriarche  de  Constantinople  a  etc"  reconnu  comme  le  chef  des  ortho- 
doxes en  Turquie,  d'ou  le  titre  attribu^  au  dit  patriarche  "Millet-bassi" 
(Chef  de  Nation).  Mais  son  autorite*  (domination  spirituelle)  n'est 
pas  de  meme  etendue  sur  les  chretiens,  soumis  spirituellement  aux 
autres  Patriarcats,  vu  que  ceux-ci  sont  equivalents  a,  et  tout-a-fait  inde- 
pendents de  celui  de  Constantinople. 

3.  Question:  En  quoi  consiste  1'independance  des  quatre  patriarcats  ? 
Answer:  Elle  consiste  en  ce  que  chacun  de  ces  Patriarcats  est  ad- 

ministrativement  independants  des  autres,  tous  ensemble,  cela  nonob- 
stant  etant  administres  et  regies  conformement  a  une  meme  doctrine 
(celle  de  1'orthodoxie)  et  eux  memes  r^glements  (ceux  des  conciles 
Oecumeniques). 

4.  Question:    Comment  les  Patriarcats  d'Alexandrie,  de  Jerusalem 
et  d'Antioche  font  ils  leurs  communications  avec  le  Gouvernement  a 
Constantinople  ? 

337 


338  APPENDIX 

Answer:  Cette  communication  se  fait  ou  par  une  correspondance  di- 
recte  avec  le  dit  gouvernement,  ou  m&ne  moyennant  les  representants  des 
patriarcats  en  question,  s'il  y  en  a,  en  Constantinople,  (representants) 
dont  le  maintien  depend  de  la  multitude  d'affaires  des  dits  Patriarcats  a 
Constantinople. 

5.  Question:   Est-ce-que  le  Patriarche  Oecume'nique  peut  aider  ses 
confreres  comme  interme"diaire  ou  representant  dans  leurs  affaires  avec 
le  gouvernement? 

Answer:  Oui,  cela  peut  se  faire  dans  le  cas  que  le  Patriarche  Oecu- 
menique  eut  ete  prie  pour  cela,  par  ses  confreres  a  titre  des  liens  spiritu- 
els  qui  Tunissent  avec  ceux-ci. 

6.  Question:  Malgre  la  theorie  de  1'independance  des  Patriarcats,  est- 
ce-qu'il  est  jamais  arrive,  surtout  depuis  les  temps  des  croises,  que  le 
patriarche  Oecume'nique  a  essaye  de  se  mfiler  dans  leurs  affaires  ou  de 
leur  controler  (par  exemple  dans  la  question  des  patriarches  d'Antioche 
pour  quelques  siecles)  ? 

Answer:  II  y  a  eu  des  circonstances,  ou  le  patriarcat  Oecumenique  est 
intervenu  dans  les  affaires  des  autres  patriarcats,  malgre"  1'independance 
de  ceux-ci;  mais  cela  n'a  e'te  arrive*  qu'apres  1'invocation  de  cette  inter- 
vention par  les  partis  interesses,  lesquels — au  contraire — refutaient  toute 
pareille  intervention  du  dit  Patriarcat  en  cas  que  celle-ci  mena9ait  de 
porter  prejudice  aux  privileges  reconnus  des  autres  patriarcats.  C'est 
cependant  bien  entendu  que  chacune  des  Sceurs-Eglises  a  de  soi-meme 
le  droit  d'intervenir  aux  affaires  des  autres,  toutes  les  fois  que  la  doctrine 
orthodoxe  ou  les  lois  et  regies  conforme*ment  auxquelles  les  e*glises  sont 
gouverne*es  courent  un  risque  evident. 

7.  Question:   Pourquoi  la  consecration  du  Saint-Chreme  se  fait-elle 
seulement  a  Constantinople? 

Answer:  Seules  raisons  pour  lesquelles  le  Saint-Chreme  ne  se  fait 
qu'aupres  du  Patriarcat  de  Constantinople  se  sont  que  1)  sa  preparation 
exige  de  grandes  defenses,  et,  2)  sa  cere'monie  exige  un  grand  nombre 
de  (du  moins  douze)  pre*lats,  nombre  duquel  les  autres  Eglises  peuvent 
e"tre  prive'es  pour  des  causes  circonstancielles. 

8.  Question:    Combien  d'eVe"ques  approximativement   sont   soumis 
au  Patriarche  Oecume'nique? 

Answer:  A  quatre-vingt  six  monte  auhourd'hui  le  nombre  des  Metro- 
politains  et  ev^ques  subordonnes  au  patriarche  Oecumenique. 

9.  Question:  Est-ce-que  le  Patriarche  Oecume'nique  partage  avec  ses 
confreres  le  droit  de  contrdler  les  affaires  du  Saint  Se*pulcre? 

Answer:  Oui. 

10.  Question:  Pour  quelle  raison? 

Answer:  Parce  que  les  saints  Lieux  et  les  endroits  de  pe*le*rinage  en 
general  sont  des  biens  appartenant  a  toute  la  Nation  des  Roums  Ortho- 


APPENDIX  339 

doxes,  (Nation)  de  laquelle  n'a  e*te  qu'une  procuratrice  la  Confrerie  (le 
Fraternal)  du  Saint  Sepulcre,  qui  a  pour  chef  le  patriarche  de  Je*ru- 
salem  et  qui  a  pour  mission  principale  de  garder  les  Saints  Lieux  et  les 
conserver  en  bon  et  sur  e*tat  au  moyen  des  offrandes  des  pe"le"rins  ortho- 
doxes  et  des  autres  dedicateurs. 

Du  Bureau  du  Patriarcat — Grec. 

2.  THE  EPISCOPAL  DIOCESES  OF  THE  GREEK  ORTHO- 
DOX, SYRIAN  JACOBITE,  GREEK  CATHOLIC,  SYRIAN 
CATHOLIC,  AND  MARONITE  CHURCHES  IN  SYRIA 
AND  PALESTINE  (WITH  A  FEW  DIOCESES  IN  MES- 
OPOTAMIA) 

I.    THE  GREEK  ORTHODOX  CHURCH 

(a)  Patriarchate  of  Antioch. — Antioch  (diocese  of  the  patriarch). 
Berytus  (Beyrout).  Laodicea  (Latakia).  Tripolis  (Tripoli).  Arca- 
dias  ('Akkar).  Cilicia  (Tarsus  and  Adana).  Theodosiopolis  (Erze- 
rtim).  Amidis  (Diarbekir).  Beroeas  (Aleppo).  Tyros  et  Sidonos 
(Hasbeya  and  Rasheya).  Auranitis  (Hauran).  Emesa  (Hums). 
Epiphanias  (Hama).  Seleukias  (Zahleh).  Byblos  et  Botrys  (Mount 
Lebanon).  Edessa  (in  partibus).  Eironopoulis  (in  partibus). 

(6)  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem. — Jerusalem  (diocese  of  the  patriarch). 
Cseserea.  Scythopolis  (Beisan).  Petra.  Ptolemais  (Acre).  Naza- 
reth. Lydda.  Gaza.  Neapolis  (Nablus).  Sebaste  (Samaria).  Tabor. 
Jordan.  Bethlehem.  Tiberias.  Philadelphia.  Pella.  Cyriacopolis 
(Kerak).  Diocaeserea  (Sepphoris).  Madaba.  (The  majority  of  the 
bishops  are  non-resident  in  their  sees;  see  text.) 

II.    THE  JACOBITE  OR  OLD  SYRIAN  CHURCH 

Patriarchate  of  Antioch. — Antioch  (diocese  of  the  patriarch).  Jeru- 
salem. Damascus.  Edessa  (Ourfa).  Amida  (Diarbekir).  Mardin. 
Nisibis.  Maiferacta  (Farkin).  Mosul.  Ma'adan.  Aleppo.  Jezireh. 
Turabolln.  (There  are  six  other  bishops,  but  resident  in  monasteries 
without  sees.) 

III.    THE  GREEK  CATHOLIC  MELCHITE  CHURCH 

Patriarchate  of  Antioch.  Aleppo.  Bosrah  (Hauran).  Berytus  (Bey- 
rout)  and  Botrys  (Jebail).  C^eserea  Philippi  (Banias).  Damascus. 
Heliopolis  (Ba'albek).  Emesa  (Hums).  Sidon.  Tyre.  Ptolemais 
(Acre).  Tripoli.  Zahleh. 


340  APPENDIX 


IV.    THE  SYRIAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH 

Patriarchate  of  Antioch.  Baghdad.  Damascus.  Hums  and  Hama. 
Aleppo.  Berytus  (Beyrout).  Jezireh.  MardinandDiarbekir  (Amida). 
Mosul. 

V.    THE  MARONITE  CHURCH 

Patriarchate  of  Antioch.  Jebail  and  Batrun  (diocese  of  the  patri- 
arch, including  the  Besherreh  district  of  the  Lebanon).  Aleppo.  Bey- 
rout  (including  part  of  the  Metn  district  of  the  Lebanon).  Cyprus 
(including  the  rest  of  the  Metn).  Ba'albek  (including  part  of  the  Kes- 
rouan).  Damascus  (including  the  rest  of  the  Kesrouan).  Tyre  and 
Sidon  (including  the  southern  Lebanon).  Tripoli  (including  the  ad- 
jacent Lebanon  district). 

3.  DISTRIBUTION  OF  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BROTHERHOOD 
OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE  IN   1909 

A.    RESIDENT  IN  THE  CONVENT  OF  CONSTANTINE,  JERUSALEM 

Bishops  in  convent 8 

Archimandrites,  members  of  the  Holy  Synod    ....  9 

Other  archimandrites 21 

Priests 26 

Deacons 19 

Lay  brothers 55 

~138 
B.    RESIDENT  ELSEWHERE  IN  JERUSALEM  AND  VICINITY 

Convent  of  Abraham 401 

Prison  of  Christ,  near  Saint  Anne's 3 

Deir  Nicolaus 4 

Deir  Barsimus 8 

Virgin's  Tomb 6 

Mount  of  Olives 4 

Convent  of  Cross 6 

Katamon,  summer  residence  of  patriarch 2 

Talabiyeh 3 

~76 

1  Twenty-five  of  these  monks  sleep  in  the  adjoining  church  of  the 
Anastasis,  or  Holy  Sepulchre.  In  the  chapel  of  the  Convent  of  Abra- 
ham the  Anglicans  have  been  granted  the  privilege  of  celebrating  the 
holy  communion. 


APPENDIX  341 


C.    RESIDENT  ELSEWHERE  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Bethany 4 

'Ain  Farah 1 

Wady-el-Kelt  (Mar  Yuhanna),  including  Hermits     .     .  15 

Qarantel  (Quarantania) 9 

Deir  Hajla 8 

MarSaba 60 

Madaba 1 

Kerak 1 

Es-Salt 2 

'Ajlun 1 

Mar  Elyas 4 

Bethlehem 10 

Hebron 2 

Gaza 4 

Bureij          4 

'Ain  Ariq 1 

Lydda 3 

Ramleh 5 

Jaffa 1 0 

'Ain  Karim 1 

Beit  Sahur 1 

Ramallah 1 

Jifna 1 

Bir  Zeit 1 

Beit  Jala 1 

Tayyibeh 1 

Nablus 1 

Bir  Yaqub  (Jacob's  Well) 2 

Nazareth 6 

Acre 12 

Haifa 3 

Tiberias 5 

171 

D.    RESIDENT  IN  OTHER  COUNTRIES 

Constantinople 7 

Athens 3 

Cyprus 3 

1  During  the  recent  troubles  between  the  monks  and  the  Syrian 
people,  the  latter  obtained  possession  of  the  Jaffa  property. 


342  APPENDIX 

Crete 3 

Moscow 4 

Tsiphan 6 

~~26 
SUMMARY 

Resident  in  the  Convent  of  Constantine,  Jerusalem   .     .     138 
Resident  elsewhere  in  Jerusalem  and  vicinity    ....      76 

Resident  elsewhere  in  the  Holy  Land 171 

Resident  in  other  countries 26 

HI 

4.   LIST  OF  FEASTS  WHEN  THE  GREEKS  AND 
MARONITES  FORBID  WORK 

GREEK  AND  MARONITE 

Jan.  1.  Circumcision  of  Christ. 

Jan.  6.  Baptism  of  Christ. 

Feb.  2.  The  Purification  of  Christ. 

Mar.  9.  The  Forty  Martyrs. 

Mar.  25.  The  Annunciation. 

June  29.  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul. 

July  20.  The  Prophet  Elijah. 

Aug.  6.  The  Transfiguration. 

Aug.  15.  Repose  or  Assumption  of  the  Virgin. 

Sept.  8.  Birth  of  the  Virgin. 

Sept.  14.  Finding  of  the  Cross. 

Nov.  21.  Purification  of  the  Virgin. 

Dec.  25.  Christmas. 

Dec.  26.  Commemoration  of  the  Virgin. 

GREEK 

April  23.  Saint  George. 

Aug.  29.  Decapitation  of  John  the  Baptist. 

Oct.  26.  Demetrius  the  Martyr. 

Nov.  8.  The  Archangel  Michael. 

Dec.  6.  Saint  Nicholas. 

Dec.  9.  The  Conception  of  Hannah. 

MARONITE 

Feb.  9.        Mar  Marun. 
Mar.  2.       Yuhanna  Marun. 
Mar.  19.      Saint  Joseph. 


APPENDIX  343 

June  24.  The  Birth  of  John  the  Baptist. 

July  31.  The  three  hundred  and  fifty  monks  of  Mar  Martin. 

Aug.  1.  The  Maccabees. 

Nov.  1.  All  Saints. 

Dec.  8.  The  Conception  of  Hannah. 

Work  is  also  suspended  on  the  great  movable  feasts. 


INDEX 


Effendi,  19,  20 
'Abd-el-Hamfd,  Sultan,  32,   192, 

242,  245 

'Abd-el-Mejld,  Sultan,  315 
Abu  Bekr,  the  Caliph,  17,  226, 

227,  296,  300 
Abu  'Obeidah,  14,  16 
Adeney,  W.  F.  (his  "The  Greek 

and  Eastern  Churches "),43  note 
'All,  the  Caliph,  17,  226,  227,  297, 

298,  299,  301,  302,  303,  304,  310 
Assassins,  Order  of  the,  18,  307 , 

Bab,  the,  19 

Baldensperger,  P.  J.,  28,  230  note 

et  passim 
Baptism, _  140  ff. 

Anointing  with  oil,  143 
Baptismal  garments,  144,  145 
Blessing  of  the  salt  (Maron- 
ite), 141 

Blessing  of  the  water,  142 
Catachumens,    making   of 

(Greek),  142 

Catechism,  the  Greek,  142 
Communicating    the    infant. 

142 

Confirmation,    Greek    sacra- 
ment of,   144 

Syrian  sacrament  of,  144 
Consecration  of  the  holy  oil, 

143 
Exorcism  of  the  devil,   140, 

141 
General  features  of  Eastern 

baptism,    140 
Godparents,  142 
Holy  chrism  or  Meirun,  144 
Maronites,   among  the,    145 
Triple    immersion     (Greek), 

143 

Beha  Allah,  20 
Behais  or  Babis,  19 
Bell,    Miss    Gertrude    Lowthian, 
311  note 


Beyrout,  30,  56,  58,  59,  93,  103, 

137,  163,  325  ff. 
Broussa,  207 
Burial  (Christian) 

Ceremony    at    the    grave 

(Greek),  154 
Child,  service  for,  153 
Funeral  of  a  Maronite  patri- 
arch, 154 

Greek  burial  services  for  lay- 
men, the,  152 
Interment  of  bishops,  155 
Kiss,  the  last  (Greek),  152, 

153 

Maronite  burial  service,  154 
Unction,   the  sacrament   of, 

151 
Burial  in  Islam,  291 

Angels  Munkar  and  Nakir, 

196,  293 

Ceremonial  ablutions,  292 
Funeral  service,  292 
Grave  clothes,  292 
Hospitality  at  funerals,  294 
Hour  of  death,  291 
Punishment  of  the  grave,  293 
Visits  to  cemeteries,  294 
Washing  of  the  corpse,  291 

Christianity,  early  Jewish,  7 

Official  triumph  of  Gentile,  9 
Types  of  Syrian  and  Greek, 

111 

Church  of  the  Anastasis  or  Resur- 
rection at  Jerusalem  (see  next) 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 

30,  54,  61,  324 

Church  of  the  Nativity,  Bethle- 
hem, 30 
Church  buildings,  124  ff. 

Altar,  the  high,  or  table,  126 
Baptismal  font,  127 
Ikonostasis,  125 
Ikons,  125 
Interiors,  125 


345 


346 


INDEX 


Oblation,  the  Greek  table  of, 
127 

Pulpit,  127 

Service  books,  Greek,  124 
Maronite,  124 
Syrian,   124 
Churches,  the  Eastern,  35 

Eastern   and   Western,  com- 
pared, 38 

Origin  of  Greek  and  Syrian,  11 

Relative  numerical  strength, 

35 

Churches,  the  Jacobite  or  old  Syr- 
ian Church,  74 

Ancestors    of    Syrian  Chris- 
tians, 9 

Chorepiscopus,    or    Country 
Bishop,  77 

Deacons,  grades  of  Syrian,  77 

Geographical  distribution,  74 

'Mafrian,  76 

Nestorian  Church,  80 
(Persian),  80 

Palayacoor,  or  the  Old  Com- 
munity (Malabar),  79 

Parish  priests,  77 

Patriarchs  and  bishops,  75 

Puthencoor,  or  the  New  Com- 
munity (Malabar),  79 

Syrians  of  Malabar,  the,  79 

Vestments,  78 

Churches,  Church  of  the  Maron- 
ites 

Council  of  the  Lebanon,  97. 
108 

Dibs,  Joseph  (Bishop  of  Bey- 
rout),  99 

Dibs  College  at  Beyrout,  111 

Emir  Beshtr  Shehaab,  105 

Episcopate,  the,  109 

Feudalism  and  the  Lebanon. 
104 

Gregorian  calendar,  adoption 
of  the,  97 

Hierarchy,  the,  108 

Decline  of  the  power  of. 
112 

In  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem, 
103 

Josephus  Assemanus,  99 

Kesrouan,  107 

Khazins,  the,  107 

Mar  Marun,  alleged  founder, 
13,98 


Mar  Yuhanna  Marun,  13,  98 

Monothelitism,  35  note,  98 

Numbers  of,  37,  103 

Origin  and  present  distribu- 
tion of,  12,  102 

Parish  clergy  and  missioners, 
111 

Patriarch,  election  of  a,  109 
Funeral  of  a,  154 

Periodeuta  and  Chorepisco- 
pus, 110 

Recent  popular  movement, 
112 

Revenues,  the  patriarchal, 
108 

Union  with  Rome,  the,  101 

Unique  position  of,  96 

Wars  with  Druses,  104 

William  of  Tyre,   testimony 

of,  100 
Church,  the  Orthodox,  39  ff. 

Archbishopric  of  Mount  Sinai, 
the,  42 

Archimandrites,  54 

Autocephalous  churches,  the 
fifteen,  40 

Bishops,  election  of,  54,  56 

Boycott  of  churches,  66,  70, 
71,  72 

Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sep- 
ulchre, 61  ff. 

Church  and  state,  40 
The  Bulgarian,  42 
Crisis  in  Jerusalem,  70 
Of  Greece,  41,  42 
Of  Russia,  41 

Circuit  system,  the  Greek,  58 

Cleophas  Kikilides,  librarian 
of  the  Convent  at  Jerusa- 
lem, 60 

Diaconate,  the,  60 

Dositheus,  Patriarch  of  Jeru- 
salem, 61 

Ecclesiastical  publications,  53, 
56 

Ecclesiastical  revolution,  an, 
67 

Ecumenical  Church,  the,  41 

Erotheos,  Patriarch  of  Anti- 
och,  65 

Germanus,  Patriarch  of  Je- 
rusalem, 62,  63 

Gregorios,  present  Patriarch 
of  Antioch,  69 


INDEX 


347 


Hierarchy  of,  49  ff. 
High-schools,  Orthodox,  57 
Holy  synods,  the,  50,  53  et 

passim 
Imperial  Russian  Society  of 

Palestine,  57,  73 
Ionian  claims,  the,  72 
Ionian  control  at  Damascus, 

64 
Jerusalem   Convent,    income 

of,  63 

Malatios,  Patriarch  of  Anti- 
och, 69 

"Master  of  the  Week,"  59 
Metropolitan  Church  of  Cy- 
prus, 41 
National  party  in  Damascus, 

victory  of  the,  68 
Orthodox  and  Catholics,  39 
Parish  priests,  58 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
simply  Primus  inter  pares, 
44,  46 
Patriarchs,    election    of,    51, 

53,  54,  56 

Patriarchate    of    Alexandria, 
41,  52 

Patriarchate  of  Antioch, 

41,  50,  56,  64  ff. 
Contrasted  with  Jerusa- 
lem, 60 
National    movement   in 

the,  64 

Patriarchate  of  Constan- 
tinople, 41,  44 
Patriarchate     of     Jeru- 
salem, 41,  53 

Patriarchates,    mutual    rela- 
tions of  the  four,  47 
Phanar    at    Constantinople, 

53 

Photios,  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria, 51 
Points     of     difference     with 

Rome,  40 

Relations  to  sultan,  43 
Russian  influence  alleged,  65 

Denied,  66 

Sylvestre,  Patriarch  of  Anti- 
och, 64,  89 

Theological   colleges,   Ortho- 
dox, 57 

Turkey,  Orthodox  Church  in 
43 


Churches,  the  United  or  Uniates, 
81  jf. 

Apostolic  vicar  or  delegate, 
84 

Armenian  Catholic  Convent 
at  Venice,  86 

Basis  of  union  with  Rome,  83 

Breach  between  East  and 
West,  82 

Councils  of  Ferrara  and 
Florence,  82 

C9ptic  Catholic  Church,  86 

Divisions  in  the  Church  Uni- 
versal, 81 

Four  general  councils  of  the 
Greek  Catholics,  95 

Greek  Catholic  colony  in 
Calabria,  95 

Greek  Catholic  community, 
92 

Greek  Catholic  schism  of 
1724,  89 

Greek  Catholics,  unique  po- 
sition of,  92 

Gregorian  calendar,  adoption 

Influence  of  Rome,  94 

Latin  patriarchs,  85 

Mark,  Bishop  of  Ephesus,  82 

Married  clergy,  84 

Propaganda  in  the  Greek  see 
of  Antioch,  87 

Propaganda,    sketch    of 
the  general  papal,  96 

Seraphfm  Tanas,  first  Greek  j 
Catholic  patriarch,  89 

Synod  of  Diamper,  83 

Syrian  Catholics,  87 

United  Abyssinians,  86 

United    Greeks    in    Russia, 

Austria,  and  Bulgaria,  95 

Church  Year,  the,  155  ff.  \ 

Adoration  of  the  cross  or  bur- 
ial, 163  ff. 

Advent,  157 

All  Saints,  170 

Ash  Monday,  159 

Baptism  of  Christ,  158 

Beginning  of  Greek  ecclesias- 
tical year,  156 

Beginning  of  Syrian  ecclesias- 
tical year,  156 

Calendar,  the,  155 

Christmas,  157 


348 


INDEX 


Christmas  bonfires  in  church, 

157 

Church  auctions,  158 
Easter  Monday,  166 

Procession    (Greek),    at 

Mahardy,  167 
Salutations,  166 
Sunday,  165 
Week  processions,  167 
Fast   of   the    Apostles,   the, 
156 

Of  the  Nativity,  the,  156 

Of  Nineveh,  157 

Of  Repose  of  the  Virgin, 

156 

Feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  169 
Of   the   Finding  of   the 

Cross,  169 

Of  Mar  Marun,  159 
Of   the  [Repose    or   As- 
sumption of  the  Virgin, 
156,  169 
Of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint 

Paul,  156 
Feasts    requiring    abstention 

from  labor,  159 
Foot-washing  ceremony,  161 
Good  Friday,  162 
Holy  fire,   ceremony  of  the, 

165 
Holy    oils,    consecration    of, 

162 
Lent,  156 

Draping  of  churches,  159 
Maundy  Thursday,  160 
Miracle  play,  160 
Palm  Sunday,  160 

Sunday,  blessing  of  olive 

twigs  on,  160 
Pentecost,  168 

Society  of  the  Scapular  of 
Our  Lady  of  Mount  Car- 
mel,  157 

Churchill,  Colonel    (his  "Mount 
Lebanon"),  30  note,  37  note,  105 
note,  107  note,  295  note 
Coppolani,   Xavier,   226   note  et 

passim 

Covenant  of  'Omar,  62 
Cromer,  Lord,  176 
Crusaders,    the    episode    of    the, 

20,  21 

Curtiss,  Dr.  Samuel  Ives,  28,  205, 
228,  229,  233 


Damascus,    16,    45,    56,    64    ff., 
89  jf.,  321, 322 

Day  of  Atonement  (Jewish),  321 
Depont,  Octave,  226  note  et  pas- 
sim 
Dervish  life,  the,  255  ff. 

Attitude  toward  the  doctors 

of  the  law,  226 

Toward  government,  264 
Ceremony  of  the  trampling,  or 

dowsi,  270 
Charms,  273 
Dervish  demonstrations,  267 

Stance,  273 

Diviners  and  their  tricks,  272 
Eating  live  serpents,  266 
Establishments  at  Damascus, 

255 
Establishments  at  Jerusalem, 

255 

Flying  powers,  262 
Holiness,  the  object,  259 
Howling  dervishes,  257 
Immunity  from  fire,  265 
Miracles  of  dervishes,  261 
Moslem  belief  in  magic,  272 
Popular  estimate  of  the,  261 
Power  over  serpents,  266 
Powers  of  healing,  265 
Procession  of  Neby  Musa  on 

Good  Friday,  268 
Punishment  of  the  unworthy, 

261 

Saintly  dervishes,  261 
Sheikhs'  Thursday  at  Hums, 

269 

Shrine  of  Moses,  268 
Turkish   pasha   and  the  old 

dervish,  the,  263 
Whirling     function     of     the 

Mowlawlyeh,  258 
Zikr,  256 

Concerted,  258 
Effect  of,  257 
Imitation,  213,  258 
Dervish  organization,  the,  234 
'Abd-el-Qadir-ej-Jilani,     227, 

232,  235,  239 
Abu  Hasan  esh-Shazili,  236 
Abu-'l-Huda,  235,  242,  243, 

253 

Abu  Rabah,  241 
Adepts,  238 
Anmed  el-Bedawy,  232,  235 


INDEX 


349 


Ahmed   er-Refa'i,   232,   234, 

235,  265 
Bakhtashiyeh  or  Baghdashi- 

yeh,  236 

Bedawfyeh,  232,  234,  235,  240 
Caps  and  banners,  236 
Celibacy,  235,  253 
Chief  sheikh  of  the  order,  237 
Dervishes  of  no  order,  252 
Diploma,  or  sanad,  227,  244, 

245  251   252 

Dusuqlyeh,  234,  236,  240,  253 
Election  of  sheikh,  238 
Faqirs,  238,  260 
Female  dervishes,  254 
General  council  or  assembly, 

238,  246 

Haji  Bakhtash,  236 
Head  of  a  dervish  house,  243 
Hereditary  principle,  252 
Ibrahim  ed-Dusuqi,  232,  236 
Independence     of    Syrian 

sheikhs,  245 
Initiating  sheikhs,  238 
Initiation,  249 
Initiation,  degrees  of,  250 
Initiation,   period  of  proba- 
tion, 249 
Initiation,  powers  conferred, 

250 

Jelal  ed-Din,  236 
Kalandariyeh,  236,  253 
Khalify,  237,  239,  243,  245, 

250,  251,  252,  253,  264 
Lay-members,  246 
Mowlawiyeh,  236,  246 
Mowlawiyeh,  cap  of  the  or- 
der, 247 

Muquddim,  237,  239 
Murshid,  or  guide,  241 
Number  of  orders  or  ways, 

234 

Orders  in  Syria  and   Pales- 
tine, 236 

Organization  and  spirit,  254 
Principles     of    organization, 

236 

Qadiriyeh,  234,  235  et  passim 
Qadiriyeh  order,  development 

of  the,  239 
Qadiriyeh    in   North   Africa, 

240 

Refa'iyeh,  234,  235,  240,  257, 
265 


Sa'ad-ed-din-ej-Jebawi,    233, 

235,  244,  266 

Sa'adiyeh,  233,  234,  235,  240 
Selman-el-Pharisi,  253 
Senusiyeh,  236 
Senusiyeh,    Mohammed    Ibn 
Senusi  (founder),  236,  248 
Iconoclasm  of,  248 
Numbers  of,  248 
Shaziliyeh,  226,  236,  247 
Sheikh-el-Mahdi,  248 
Tendency  toward  panthe- 
ism, 247 

Unique  position  of,  247 
Tekkeh  (dervish  house),  245, 

255,  258 

Test  of  a  good  dervish,  251 
Unrecognized  dervishes,  239, 

260 
Visit  to  a  presiding  sheikh, 

244 

Wandering  dervishes,  239 
Zawiyeh,  or  monastery,  237, 

243,  245,  255 
Dictionary    of    Islam    (Hughes), 

185  et  passim 
Dowling,  Archdeacon,  31,  50  note, 

55,  116  note 
Druses.     See  Shi'ah  sect 

Elijah,  the  prophet,  10,  232 

Fasting  in  Islam,  210  ff. 

Beginning  of  Ramadhan,  211 
Conscientiousness,  211 
Declaration  of  fasting,  213 
Especial    service    in    Rama- 
dhan, 213 

Exempt  persons,  211 
Fanaticism  in  Ramadhan,  211 
Great  Feast,  the,  215 
Lunar  year,  211 
Night  feasting,  212 
Watching  for  new  moon,  215 

Fatima,  17 

God,  Moslem  doctrine  of,  182 
Beautiful   conceptions  found 

in  Koran,  183 

Confession  of  the  creed,  182 
Element  of  love  subordinated, 

185 

Fatalistic  elements,  184 
Fatherhood  repudiated,  187 


350 


INDEX 


Monotheistic  theory,  182 
Moslem    and    Jewish    ideas 

compared,  184 
Practical  modification  of 

monotheism,  228 
Trinity  repudiated,  186 

Hagiology,     the     Mohammedan, 
227  ff. 

Cult  of  the  shrines,  227,  228, 

248 

Folk-lore,  231,  233 
Founders  of  orders,  232 
Four  poles,  the,  232 
Memorial  rags,  230 
Sacrifices,  Moslem,  222,  229 
Servant  of  the  shrine,  230 
Shrines,  27,  228,  230,  232 

In   Aleppo    Mosque,  228 
Sufi,  Sufiism,  225,  227,  228, 

247,  256 
Supernatural    visitations    of 

saints,  233 
Wely,  welies  (saints),  227,  288 

et  passim 

Welies,  incarnations,  232 
Powers  of  the,  231 
Tombs  of,  232 
Vows  to,  228,  229 
Hasan,  17,  297,  299,  303 
Hasan-el-' Askari,  17,  300 
Hatti  Houmayun,  23,  24,  315 
Sherlf  of  Gulhane,  23,  314 
Hosein,  17,  297,  299,  303,  304 

Influence  of  the  West,  the,  313  ff. 
Islam 

Circumcision,  269 

Comparison  with  Christian- 
ity, 171 

Conquest  of  Syria  and  Pales- 
tine, 14 

Divorce,  280,  288 

Grand  Sherlf,  206 

Hierarchy,  204 

Jihad,  or  holy  war,  190 

Legal  alms,  215 

Moral  atmosphere  of,  172 

Mufti,  or  legal  adviser,  206, 
226 

Qadhi,  or  judge,  206,  285,  287 

Religious  sheikhs,  204 

Sects  of,  176 


Sheikh-ul-Islam,      192,      193 
note,  206 

Slavery  in,  277 

Total  abstinence  in,  276 

'Ulama,  or  learned,  204,  205 

et  passim 
Inter-relations  of  the  cults,  22  ff. 

Christians  and  Moslems,  be- 
tween, 28 

Christian  bodies,  between,  29 

Common    basis    of   supersti- 
tion, 27 

Effects  of  the  Turkish  revo- 
lution, 32 

Government  relations,  22 

Moslem  baptisms,  28 

Segregation,  26 
Isma'iltyeh.     See  Shi'ah  sect 


Ja'afar-es-Sadiq,  17,  244,  300 
de  Jehay,  Count  van  den  Steen, 

22,  40  note  et  passim 
Jerusalem,  16  et  passim 
Jesuit  printing-press  at  Beyrout, 
329  note 
University  of  Saint  Joseph  at 

Beyrout,  329  note 
Jews  in  the  Holy  Land,  8 
In  Syria,  8,  321 


Khaled,  the  Sword  of  God,   14, 

187,  270 

Khauli,  Prof.  Boulos,  296 
Khudr,  the  (the  Ever  Living  One), 

10,  232 
Koran,  the 

Analysis,  178  note 
Contrasted   with   the   Bible, 

174 
Doctrine   of   its   inspiration, 

178 

Early  chapters  of,  177 
Especial  legislation,  180 
Fat-hah,  or  first  chapter  of 
Koran,  199  note.  202,  210, 
264,  287 
Khatmeh,    or   recital   of  the 

whole  Koran,  214  note 
Language  of,  174,  202 
Late  chapters  of,  180 
P.oetic  passages  of,  179,  183 
Spiritual  passages  of,  175,  188 


INDEX 


351 


Lebanon,  Mount,  35  note,  37,  96 

et  passim 

Liturgies,  Eastern,  128  ff . 
Antimins  (Greek),  127 
Blessed  bread  or  anti-doron, 

135 
Communion  in   both  kinds, 

138 
Confession,  Greek,  130 

Jacobite,  130 

Greek  commemoration  of  the 
living  and  the  dead,  134 
Liturgies,  128 
Oblation,  131 
Preparation,  133 
Sacrifice,  134 

Kiss  of  peace  (Syrian),  137 
Liturgy      of      Saint      Basil 
(Greek),  129 
Of     Saint     Chrysostom 

(Greek),  129 
Of  the  presanctified 

(Greek),  129 
Penance,  130 
People's  oblation   (Greek), 

135 
Pre-empting     the    feast 

(Greek),  136 

Syrian   and   Maronite   litur- 
gies or  anaphorse,  129 
Commemoration,  136 
Oblation,  132 
Macdonald,  D.  B.,  241  note,  272, 

275  note 
Marriage  (Christian),  145  jf. 

Cup  of  communion  (Greek), 

149 
Greek  betrothal,  146 

Marriage    or    corona- 

tion,  147 

Fine    for    breaking    engage- 
ments (Greek),  146 
Lebanon  wedding  (Maronite), 

150 
Maronite  ceremony,  149 

Exhortation  to  bride  and 

groom,  150 

Marriage  fillets  (Syrian),  151 
Russian  service,  147 
Second  marriages,  146 
Sunday  weddings,  146 
Syrian  practices,  150 
Wedding  crowns  (Greek),  148 
Rings,  147 


Marriage  in  Islam,  284 
Ceremony,  the,  287 
Consent  of  girl,  285 
Dowry,  286 
Early  marriages,  286 
Female  broker,  287 
Four  marriages  allowed,  285 
Legal  capacity,  285 
Limitations  of  polygamy,  285 
Wedding  customs,  288 
Massacres  of  Adana,  33,  192 
Massacres  of  1860  (Lebanon),  104, 

313 

Melchites,  12,  13,  87,  98   ~ 
Missions  (Protestant),  313  ff. 
'Abeih  Academy,  328 
American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners   for    Foreign    Mis- 
sions, 323 
Anatolia   College  at  Marso- 

van,  331 

Apostasy  from  Islam,  314 
Armenian  Protestant  Church 

at  Constantinople,  325 
As'ad  esh-Shidiaq,  325 
Baptisms  among  Jews,  321 
Barton,  Dr.  J.  L.,  315  note 
Bliss,  Dr.  Daniel,  329,  331 
Bliss,  Dr.  Howard,  331 
British    and    Foreign    Bible 

Society,  323 

British  Syrian  schools,  328 
Central    Turkey    College    at 

'Aintab,  331 
Christian  Missions  and  Islam, 

314 
Church   Missionary  Society, 

316 

Dale,  Rev.  Gerald  F.,  318 
Educational  influences  in 

Syria  and  Palestine,  327 
Euphrates   College   at   Har- 

poot,  331 

Fallscheer,  Mr.,  318 
Gobat,  Bishop,  318 
Hanauer,  Rev.  J.  E.,  322 
Houmaytin,  Hatti,  315 
International    College    at 

Smyrna,  331 
Jessup,  Dr.  H.  H.,  29  note, 

317 

London  Society  for  Promo- 
tion of  Christianity  among 
the  Jews,  320 


352 


INDEX 


Mission  of  the  United  Free 
Church  of  Scotland,  321 
Work  among  the  Druses, 

318 

Work  among  the  Nuseirf- 
yeh,  319 

Missions  to  the  Eastern 
churches,  323 
To  Jews,  320 

Parsons,  Rev.  Levi,  323 

Persecution    of    Protestants, 
325 

Policy  of  early  American  mis- 
sionaries, 323 

Presbyterian  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions,  327 

Primary  schools,  327 

Protestant  agencies,  328 

Protestant  church  in  Syria, 
333 

Protestant      community     in 
Syria  and  Palestine,  327 

Prussian  deaconesses,  schools 
of  the,  328 

Richter,  Dr.  Julius,  317  note 

Robert  College  at  Constanti- 
nople, 331 

Saint  Paul's  Collegiate  Insti- 
tute at  Tarsus,  331 

Smith,  Dr.  Eli,  328 

Syrian   Evangelical    Church, 
326 

Syrian    Protestant    College, 
329 

Christian  association  of 
the,  331 

Thomson,  Dr.  William,  318, 

Van  Dyck,  Dr.  W.  C.  A.,  318, 

OOQ 

Wolters,  Rev.  T.  F.,  317  note 
Mo'awiyah,  17,  296,  297 
Mohammed,  14,  176  et  passim 

Companions  of,  228 

Conception  of  his  own  mis- 
sion, 181 

Early  and  later  career  con- 
trasted, 181 

Popular  apotheosis  of,  193 

Relation  to  the  Bible,  174 

Traditions  of,  175,  194 
Mohammed-el-Habib,  17 
Monasteries  of  the  East,  113  ff. 

Brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Sep- 
ulchre, 61  ff.,  113,  114 


Community  of  Mount  Athos, 

113 

Convent  of  B'dlman,  108 
Convent   of   Constantine   at 
Jerusalem,  114 
Of    Mar    Antanius  Qoz- 

hayya,  121 
Of  Mar  Elisha',  120 
Of  Qannubin,  108,  120 
Of  Sedanayya,  116 
Exorcising  of  evil  spirits,  121 
Greek  monasteries  (indepen- 
dent), 113 
Hermits,  115,  120 
Maronite  establishments,  119 
Miracle-working  saints,  121 
Monastic  orders  among  the 

united  bodies,  117 
Monasticism  in  the  Greek  pa- 
triarchate of  Antioch,  116 
Order  of  Beladiyeh  (Maron- 
ite), 118 
Of  Halablyeh  (Maronite), 

118 

Of  Mar  Isha'ya  (Maron- 
ite), 118 
Organization    of    the   orders 

(Maronite),  118 
Moslem  doctrine 
Alms,  215 

Angels  and  prophets,  196 
Fasting,  210  ff. 
God,  182  ff. 
Hell,  198 
Jesus,  186 
Paradise,  198 
Pilgrimage,  217  ff. 
Prayer,  199  jf. 
Predestination,  195 
Sin,  188 

Virgin  Mary,  186  note 
Moslems,  approximate  number  in 

Syria  and  Palestine,  177 
Mott,  Dr.  John  R.,  332 

Nablus,  207 

Nuseiriyeh.     See  Shi 'ah  sect 

Old  Man  of  the  Mountains,  the, 

18,  307 
'Omar,  the  Caliph,  14,  16,  17,  228, 

296,  300 
'Othman,  the  Caliph,  17,  296,  300 


INDEX 


353 


Pagan  survivals,  10 

Parry,  O.  H.  (his  "Six  Months  in 

a  Syrian  Monastery"))  74  ff. 
Pilgrimage    to    Mecca    or    naij. 
217  jf. 

'Arafat,  standing  on,  221 

Caravan  route,  218 

Circumambulation    of    the 
Ka'aba,  220,  223 

Conditions  of,  217 

Description  of  Sir  Richard  F. 
Burton,  220  note 

Feast  of  Bairam,  222 

Festival  prayers,  222 

First  day,  220 

Formal  declaration,  218 

Hajj  by  proxy,  217 

Hill  of  'Arafat,  221 

Ka'aba,  223 

Kisweh,  or  sacred  carpet,  223 

Mecca  Railway,  218 

Mountains  of  Safa  and  Mer- 
wah,  220 

Muna  or  Mina,  221 

Numbers  of  pilgrims,  221 

Pilgrims'  chant,  221 

Pilgrims'  return,  223 

Preliminary  rites,  219 

Sacrifices  at  Muna,  222 

Sacrifices  on  return  of  a  pil- 
grim, 224 

Second  day,  221 

Stoning  the  Great  Devil,  222 

Third  day,  222 

Well  Zem-Zem,  220 
Poole,    Stanley    Lane,    179, '  180 

note,  194  note 

Porter,  Professor  Harvey,  15  note 
Post,  Dr.  George  E.,  312 
Prayer,  Druse,  335 
Prayer  in  Islam,  199  ff. 

Ablutions,  200,  207 

Call  to  prayer,  199 

Collection,  210 

Formal  declaration,  202 

Friday  service  at  Jerusalem, 

.  208 

Haram-esh-Sherif,  208 

Imam,  or  leader,  204 

Kubbet-es-Sakhra   or   Dome 
of  the  Rock,  208,  213 

Ma,sjid-el-Aqsa,  208 

Minrab,  or  small  apse,  207 

Mirnbar,  or  pulpit,  207,  209 


Mosque  at  Hebron,  207 
Mosques,  the,  206 
Orientation,  201 
Prostrations  or  rak'ahs,  201, 
210 

Numbers  of,  201 

Obligatory,  201 

Voluntary,  201 
Ritual,  the,  202 
Rosary,  the,  204,  210 
Sermon,  the,  209 

Religion  in  the  East,  3,  4 

In  the  West,  7 
Religious  orders  of  Islam,  origin 

of,  225,  226 
Rinn,  Louis,  234  note 
Ritual,  languages  of  the  Eastern, 

123 

Saint  George,  10,  232 
Sell,  Rev.  E.,  237  note,  257  note 
Shi'ah  sect  of  Islam,  16,  17,  176, 
294  et  passim 

'Ashura,  the,  298,  299 
Conformity,  306 
Contrasted  with  Sunnis,  302 
Corpus  of  traditions,  302 
Descendants  of  Mohammed, 

301 

Divorce,  304 
Druses,  18,  19,  307 
Darazi,  18,  19 
Doctrine  of  incarnation, 
309 
Of  metempsychosis, 

309 

El-Hakim,    the    Caliph, 
.  18,  19,  309 
Hamzeh,  19,  307 
Initiates,  307 
Unitarians,  the,  307 
Exclusiveness,  305 
House  of  Harfush,  296 
Imams,  the,  300 
Isma'iliyeh,  18,  19,  300 

"  Asian     Mystery,"    by 

Rev.  S.  Lyde,  308  note 

Doctrine  of  incarnation, 

311 

Mohammed      Shah      or 
Agha  Khan  in  Bom- 
bay, 307,  311 
Nature  worship,  312 


354 


INDEX 


Number  of,  307 
Old  Man  of  the  Moun- 
tain, Lord  of  the  Assas- 
sins, 307 

Rashid-ed-Dfn  Sinan,  18 
Rodhah,  the,  311,  312 
Mahdi,  the,  300 
Martyrs,  the,  296 
Metawali  (plural  Metawileh), 

17,  295 
Mufti,  302 
Mujtahid,  303 
Nominal  marriage,  304 
Nuseiriyeh,  19,  300 

Doctrine  of  incarnation, 
310 
Of  metempsychosis, 

308,  309 
Feast  of  the  quddas,  or 

"mass,"  308 
Initiation  of,  308 
Origin    and    distribution    in 

Syria,  294 

Persian  passion  play,  298 
Physiognomy  in  Syria,  296 
Pilgrimage  by  proxy,  304 
Practises  in  prayer,  303 
Praying  pebble,  or  sejdi,  302 
Temporary  marriage,  304 
Visitations  to  tombs,  304 


Sophronius,  Patriarch  of  Jerusa- 
lem, 16 

Spirit  of  the  times,  313 
Sufiism.    See  Hagiology 
Syriac  language,  16,  123 

Tozer,  H.  F.  (his  "The  Church 
and  the  Eastern  Empire"),  44, 
52,  74  note 

Turks,  Young,  32,  33,  314  ff. 

Washburn,  President,  217 
Woman  in  Islam,  278  ff. 

Domestic  relations,  281 

Harem  life,  282 

Influence  of,   283 

Mohammed's  legislation  for, 
278 

Peasant  freedom,  282 

Present  conditions,  280 

Religious  duties,  290 

Seclusion,  280 

Wortabet,  Dr.  John,  88  note,  140, 
200  note,  281,  300  et  passim 

Yezid,  297,  298 

Zionism,  320,  321 

Zwemer,  Dr.  S.  M.,  188,  189 


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